Locally, more than 360 pounds of medical marijuana sold this year

Statewide sales top 19,000 pounds, $122 million

TEXARKANA, Ark. — The city’s two medical marijuana dispensaries together have sold more than 360 pounds of cannabis since opening in January.

Red River Remedy has sold 283.89 pounds of medical marijuana since opening Jan. 10, and Bloom Medicinals has sold 79.57 pounds since Jan. 15, according to a report released Friday by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.

Since the state’s first dispensary opened in May 2019, Arkansans have spent $122 million to buy 19,362 pounds of medical marijuana. Total medical marijuana sales statewide averaged more than $600,000 daily over the last three weeks.

Quantities of cannabis sold by the state’s 26 dispensaries vary widely, as do the lengths of time they have been open. The highest-selling, Green Springs Medical in Hot Springs, has sold almost 3,000 pounds since May 2019. The lowest-selling, Enlightened Cannabis for People in Arkadelphia, has sold 2.7 pounds since July 16.

Red River Remedy ranks 17th in quantity sold, and Bloom Medicinals ranks 21st.

Eight dispensaries — in Hot Springs, Hensley, Mountain View, Bentonville, Fayetteville and Conway — have sold more than 1,000 pounds of cannabis each.

State law restricts patients’ use of medical marijuana. A doctor must certify that a patient has one of about 20 qualifying medical conditions — including cancer, severe arthritis and post-traumatic stress disorder — before they can receive a registration card.

Patients must buy medical marijuana from dispensaries and cannot grow their own. Qualified registered patients are allowed to pur

chase up to 2.5 ounces from a dispensary every 14 days. Using cannabis is prohibited in public or around children.

The Medical Marijuana Commission divided Arkansas into eight geographical zones and licensed up to four dispensaries in each. Miller County is in Zone 8, a region of Southwest Arkansas that also includes Calhoun, Clark, Columbia, Dallas, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Nevada, Ouachita, Pike, Sevier and Union counties.