Pot-sale plans in two cities get top mark

TEXARKANA — At least two, and possibly three, of the four medical marijuana dispensaries allowed in Southwest Arkansas likely will operate in Texarkana.

Dispensary license applications have been scored, and the state Medical Marijuana Commission announced the scores last week. The four highest-scoring applicants in each of eight geographic zones will receive licenses to sell medical marijuana to doctor-approved customers. In Zone 8, a 14-county region of southwest Arkansas that includes Miller County, two of the high scores went to dispensaries planned for Texarkana. Another went to a company called RXMED Inc. for a dispensary in Prescott.

It is unclear from available documents which city the fourth Zone 8 licensee — a Rogers-based company called Noah’s Ark LLC — plans to operate in. Attempts to reach the company’s corporate officers were unsuccessful Friday.

The two licensees that will have dispensaries in Texarkana are companies based out of state. Bloom Medicinals of AR LLC is headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., and Grassroots OpCo AR LLC is in Chicago. Neither company immediately returned phone calls seeking comment.

To help ensure objectivity, the commission hired an outside company to score the applications. The commission will meet to officially certify the scores on Jan. 9.

In July 2017, the Texarkana Board of Directors approved license fees for medical marijuana businesses operating in the city. Dispensaries will pay $7,500 for an initial city license and $11,250 a year for renewal.

At that time, the board also approved changes to the city zoning ordinance regarding medical marijuana.

State law requires dispensaries to be allowed in whatever zones retail pharmacies are located. The new local ordinance removes pharmacies from O-1, or office quiet, zones so marijuana businesses may not operate there. Office quiet zones allow certain businesses to locate among homes in residential neighborhoods.

Local zoning will now allow dispensaries in all commercial and industrial zones except those designated O-1 and W-1. But state regulations dictate that cultivation centers must be 3,000 feet and dispensaries 1,500 feet from any church, school or day care.