Cannabiz

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen said last week he would likely issue an opinion Wednesday, after the Arkansas Times has gone to press, on whether to grant a preliminary […]

The first lawsuit over the state Medical Marijuana Commission›s scoring of the top five applicants for cultivation permits under the new medical marijuana law was filed Tuesday.

Some, but not all, of the five companies the state has scored as eligible for cannabis cultivation in Arkansas included in their applications estimates of job hires and financial impact. Companies estimate hires between 25 and 60; two estimate payrolls will exceed $1 million.

Natural State Medicinals, Bold Team LLC, Natural State Wellness Enterprises, Osage Creek Cultivation and Delta Medical Cannabis Company Inc. were the five companies awarded permits to grow medical cannabis by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission on Tuesday.

Questions raised by Governor Hutchinson about whether regulations for industrial hemp research conflict with federal law and other queries have apparently slowed progress toward the implementation of the Arkansas Industrial Hemp Act.

To gauge the perceived public health benefits of medical marijuana, researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will conduct a groundbreaking five-year-long survey that could pave the way for understanding cannabis’ effect on health.

A company recently sent the Arkansas Times a press release advertising its cannabidiol (CBD) products, claiming they help with “relief of chronic pain,” “anti-inflammatory benefits,” “anxiety relief,” “sleep,” and “Cancer, Parkinson’s, and Diabetes fighting properties.”

The Industrial Hemp Committee held its first meeting Tuesday, passing draft regulations to the full Plant Board for approval and moving the state nearer to creating a bureaucracy for the new industry in Arkansas.

Under Arkansas’s new medical marijuana program, doctors do not prescribe cannabis. Instead, they certify that patients have one or more of the 18 medical conditions that allow them to seek a medical marijuana card from the state Department of Health.

The politics of medical marijuana in Arkansas will be an interesting story as it evolves.