The state Medical Marijuana Commission on Thursday declined to consider the question of whether a Little Rock dispensary can move to Jacksonville, voting not to entertain location changes until at least July.
The commission voted not to consider any requests for transfers of location until its July meeting, although the date of that meeting has not been set. Commissioner Kevin Case, who made the motion to halt the requests, said the commission should not entertain location changes until after the annual renewal process for medical marijuana business licenses has been completed.
Each of the state’s medical marijuana businesses must renew their license through an application process that begins on April 1 and ends on May 1. The commission will have until June 30 to consider the renewal applications.
Greenlight Little Rock had requested permission to move to an area of Jacksonville near the border with Cabot. State Alcoholic Beverage Control Division Director Christy Bjornson said the agency had vetted the proposed location and had no issues with it but said the ABC had received letters in opposition and in support of the move.
State Sen. Brian Evans (R-Cabot) and state Sen. Ricky Hill (R-Cabot) submitted letters opposing the move in November before the request ever appeared on the commission’s agenda. Sherwood Mayor Mary Jo Heye-Townsell also submitted a letter opposed to the move.
Jacksonville Mayor Jeff Elmore and state Rep. Karilyn Brown (R-Sherwood), whose District 67 includes parts of Jacksonville but not the proposed site, submitted letters in favor of the move. State Sen. Linda Chesterfield (D-Little Rock) and First Arkansas Bank and Trust President Larry Wilson also submitted letters of support.
The proposed location at 7418 T.P. White Drive has a Cabot address but planning maps show it is located in Jacksonville.
In other business, commission Chair James Miller asked Bjornson and a representative of the state attorney general’s office to draft a rule that would cap the number of processors in the state to possibly 15. Miller asked them to prepare the draft rule for the April 4 meeting as well as a process for how the remaining licenses would be issued. The state has 10 licensed processors, although two have not begun operation.
The commission also voted to table a request for an ownership change for Body and Mind Dispensary in West Memphis. The dispensary had proposed bringing on Stephen ‘Trip’ Hoffman and Matt Trulove, an owner of Osage Creek Cultivation, through Big Stone Farms AR 1 LLC. The commissioners said they needed more time to review information on the request, some of which they had only received the day of the meeting.
The ownership change involves a loan of $1.25 million that the owners are proposing to pay back through equity in the business rather than cash, an attorney representing Body and Mind said. Dispensary representatives said they were uncertain if the business could continue operating if an ownership change is not executed by a March 15 deadline. The commissioners were unmoved by the impending date and voted to table the item until the commission’s April meeting.
The commission also approved a processor license for The Collective Cannabis Brands LLC, which will be located in Pine Bluff. The processor will be owned by Little Rock cannabis processor Dark Horse Medicinals. Dark Horse CEO Casey Flippo purchased Hash and Co. Dispensary in Pine Bluff in January, and an attorney representing Dark Horse said today the company will be using 5,000 square feet of space available at the Hash and Co. location.