A growing demand for medical cannabis in Arkansas prompted the state’s regulatory commission for the drug to approve an additional cultivation license on Tuesday.
There are five licensed growers in Arkansas, though only three have harvested and sold their cannabis crop.
Carpenter Farms Medical Group, a fully minority-owned company from Grady, is next in line to receive one of the coveted licenses, after the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission agreed Tuesday to settle a lawsuit over the group’s disqualification from the initial bidding process.
By a separate, 4-1 vote, the commission agreed to award a sixth license Tuesday. Carpenter Farms will have seven business days to pay a $100,000 licensing fee and post a $500,000 bond to receive its license, according to commission spokesman Scott Hardin.
Under the constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2016 to legalize medical cannabis, as many as eight cultivators can be licensed, and as many as 40 dispensaries to sell the drug.
Read more at nwaonline.com
