Smoke Clears on Cannabis Cards

A sample illustration of the Arkansas Department of Health's identification card issued to medical marijuana patients.

Medical marijuana patients in Arkansas have been getting mixed signals about when their cards — whose expiration dates have been extended during the coronavirus pandemic — will start to expire.

Now a firm date is set, Sept. 30, and state officials are urging cardholders to submit their renewal applications to the Arkansas Department of Health by Sept. 11.

When Arkansas Business reported on a rush to renewal last month as cardholders’ expiration dates passed with no certainty about how long the grace period would last, state agencies weren’t on the same page.

The governor’s office, the Health Department and the Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration, which heads medical cannabis enforcement through its Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, offered different takes on when card expirations would resume.

As of Aug. 7, nearly 73,000 Arkansas residents had received approved medical marijuana ID cards, and patients are snapping up more than $600,000 worth of cannabis a day, state spokesman Scott Hardin said.

Patients with cards expiring before Sept. 30 should start the renewal process, Hardin said. He had previously said that expirations would resume after Aug. 14, and the governor’s office told Arkansas Business at the end of July that there were no plans to suspend expiration dates throughout the pandemic emergency declared by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in the spring.

A day later, dispensaries were telling customers they were good through the Aug. 14 date. With that deadline near, the state offered this update last Wednesday:

“The suspension of expiration dates on Arkansas Medical Marijuana cards will end Sept. 30, 2020,” the state Health Department notice said. All cards listing expiration dates before Sept. 30 will expire on that date.

Telehealth visits now allowed for the doctor’s consultation required for medical marijuana certification “will continue to be allowed until further notice,” the state said.