Arkansas’ first medical marijuana dispensary will open in Hot Springs.
The state Department of Finance and Administration said Friday that Doctors Orders RX at 4893 Malvern Ave. passed state inspection, received final state approval and could open when ready. The dispensary is owned by Donald Sears.
In a statement, Sears he was pleased to get official approval to open.
“We will announce our opening date in the coming days, and we fully expect the initial demand for our products to exceed availability,” he said. “Until cultivation capacity can keep up with demand, we will operate on a first-come, first-serve basis with the limited products currently available. We look forward to finally being able to provide relief to ailing Arkansans across our state.”
Previously: Marijuana Dispensary Trio Failed to Mention Family Tie
Another Hot Springs dispensary, Green Springs Medical at 309 Seneca St., will be inspected by the department’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division on Thursday. It could also open when ready following ABC approval, the department said.
Green Springs is owned by Chairman and CEO Dragan Vicentic and Vice Chairman and Security Manager Bruce Simpson.
More: See who owns Arkansas’ 32 licenses dispensaries.
The department said that of Arkansas’ 32 licensed dispensaries, there are no additional inspections currently scheduled. Officials have said they expect dispensaries to begin operating by the middle of the month.
Dispensaries will need product to sell before they open. Arkansas Business reported April 26 that Bold Team LLC of Cotton Plant, Arkansas’ first operating cultivator, had completed the state’s first legal marijuana harvest last week, and had put up about 900 pounds of product to dry for seven to 10 days.
Bold Team and the state’s other cultivators will supply dispensaries with marijuana.
Industry experts expect a rush by the state’s 11,000 qualified medical marijuana patients when the first dispensary opens in a few weeks. David Couch, the Little Rock lawyer who wrote and promoted the medical cannabis amendment, anticipates long lines outside the dispensary door, whichever of the Hot Springs sites comes first. “Yes, and I expect that they will run out of product,” he told Arkansas Business. “I’d be interested in how they price it.”
Arkansas voters approved a Constitutional amendment in November 2016 to legalize medical marijuana. Since then, the state has faced legal and administrative hurdles, and has missed even the target date for sales set by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former chief of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. In February, Hutchinson predicted medical sales would begin in April.
Sign up for Daily E-news
