A Eureka Springs medical marijuana dispensary withdrew its request to move to Springdale today after state regulators received a letter from a state senator opposed to the move.
Sen. Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) told the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission he is opposed to Osage Creek Dispensary’s request to move to N. 45th Street in Springdale in Benton County. (Most of Springdale is in Washington County, but the proposed site falls in a small portion of the city in Benton County.) Hester said local residents and community members were opposed as well.
Dispensary relocations have been a hot topic over the past month. Last month, the commission granted a request by Speakeasy Dispensary of Pine Bluff to move to Prairie County. The commission’s consideration of the move had been delayed by a month after state Sen. Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) asked for more time for community input.
In a state legislative hearing last month, state Rep. Jim Wooten and state Rep. Roger Lynch expressed dismay about Speakeasy getting approval to move to Prairie County. Lynch had initially submitted a letter in support of the move but, a day after the legislative meeting, he submitted a second letter to withdraw his support.
Christy Bjornson, director of the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, acknowledged the hot-button relocation issue during the commission’s brief meeting Thursday. Bjornson said staff would create rules focused on the relocation process. An initial draft made available after Thursday’s meeting would create a requirement for applicants to notify the county judge in the county where a dispensary would be relocated. If within the boundaries of a city or town, notice to the mayor would be required as well. The draft rules would also call for posting a notice at the front entrance of the proposed new location.
Adoption of the new notification rules would follow a process that includes approval by the commission, the governor’s office and state legislators, as well as a public comment period.
A separate set of rules about management contracts is currently in a comment period that will last until the commission’s next meeting on Dec. 12. Comments can be sent to abcadmin@dfa.arkansas.gov.
The other two items on the commission’s Thursday agenda were pulled by the applicants before the meeting began. Carla McCord had planned to sell her 60% stake in Hot Springs cannabis cultivator Leafology to Brian Renk of Arkansas and Chris Wynne of Florida. Renk owns 5% of Sherwood’s Natural Relief Dispensary. Renk and Wynne were also set to buy Leafology’s processing business, which had set up under a different license to satisfy state regulatory requirements.
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