A man who owned a Hot Springs dispensary won’t be able to sell his business as proposed after state regulators declined to renew his license at a special meeting Tuesday.
Dragan Vicentic had planned to sell Green Springs Medical to Carla McCord, owner of Garland County cultivator Leafology, according to a letter McCord sent to the state Medical Marijuana Commission earlier this month. Vicentic said the price of the sale was $3 million, according to a report from the Arkansas Advocate last week.
The ownership change appeared on the agenda for the commission’s special meeting Tuesday where commissioners considered whether to renew Vicentic’s dispensary license. All cannabis business licenses must be renewed by June 30 each year.
Earlier this month, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board upheld a decision to revoke Vicentic’s license over allegations that included selling products with expired lab tests, improper product labeling and unsanitary conditions. Vicentic filed a lawsuit in Garland County Circuit Court but Judge Kara Petro declined to grant a temporary restraining order in the case last week.
Doralee Chandler, the commission’s counsel from the attorney general’s office, said Tuesday that the actions by the ABC Board and Petro meant there was no license in place for the commission to consider and that the commission did not have the authority to renew the revoked license.
The commission followed Chandler’s advice and passed a motion that it was not taking action on the matter.
ABC Director Christy Bjornson said her agency received word earlier today from McCord’s attorney, Erika Gee, who said the remaining items on the agenda concerning the sale of the business were rendered moot after the license was revoked.
When the ABC revoked his license on June 12, Vicentic was given 30 days to sell or transfer his remaining products to licensed Arkansas cannabis businesses or to destroy the products, according to an order issued by the ABC.
On Friday, Vicentic filed a motion asking Petro to reconsider her ruling and asked for an immediate hearing. Vicentic asked Petro for a stay “at least until [Vicentic] can complete a transfer to another party.”
The filing also alleged that the decision to revoke Vicentic’s license was influenced by Bjornson’s personal animosity towards him.
From the filing:
“The Director of the ABC has exhibited some personal animosity toward [Vicentic], and due to the limited time that she has been acting as a director, it has to be assumed that any animosity must have developed something outside of her position as a director of a regulatory Agency.”