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Cannabis Dispensary Move to Russellville QuashedLock Icon

2 min read

In sharp contrast to a string of cannabis dispensary location moves that breezed through the Arkansas medical marijuana system, 3J Investments Inc. hit a wall in its Aug. 5 application to transfer its dispensary site.

The state Medical Marijuana Commission unanimously rejected the move after Chairman James Miller grumbled about dispensaries “bouncing around with everybody looking to be where the money is.”

3J Investments, represented by Little Rock attorney Alex Gray, had applied to move its dispensary site from Lamar to Russellville. Lamar is a Johnson County town of about 2,000; Russellville, in neighboring Pope County, is a city of 30,000 with an 11,000-student university, Arkansas Tech.

“There’s 644 [medical marijuana] patients in Johnson County, so there’s not a need for two dispensaries,” Gray argued. The county already has Enlightened Dispensary of Clarksville. “We think there’s an access issue and a need here,” said Gray, noting that Pope County has 1,357 cannabis cardholders.

But Adam Harrison, owner of Russellville’s existing outlet, 420 Dispensary, argued against having a competitor move in a 10-minute’s drive away, and he made a persuasive case that far more underserved areas exist in west Arkansas.

“Zone 4 is made up of eight counties; Sebastian and Crawford counties account for more than half of the cardholders in the entire zone, with just one dispensary [Fort Cannabis in Fort Smith],” said Harrison. “Crawford County alone has 1,620 cardholders, more than Pope County has, yet Crawford County doesn’t have a dispensary.”

Miller suggested that in most cases dispensary companies should be prepared to operate as they proposed in their applications for licenses.

3J Investments is owned by 3J Management LLC, according to state records. 3J Management is owned by Jeffery Catlett Fitch with a 60% stake and Jeremy Ruiz with 40%.

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