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Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Health Care

Loudest Voice in the Grow Room (Hunter Field Editor’s Note)

The silence has been deafening as the first dispensary license is stripped. read more >
Banking & Finance / Business Services / Government & Politics

Plaintiffs in Medical Marijuana Lawsuit Include Big Names in Business

The lawsuit that led Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch to strike down 27 state laws on medical marijuana was filed by Good Day Farm Arkansas LLC. read more >
Government & Politics / Health Care / Legal

Lawsuit Leaves Cannabis Industry in Limbo

Cannabis firms in Arkansas await more legal action on laws struck down. read more >
Storm Nolan of River Valley Relief Cultivation in Fort Smith
Agriculture & Poultry / Legal

Update: Judge Denies Fort Smith Cultivator’s Request for Rehearing in License Case

Storm Nolan argues that a ruling against River Valley Relief was flawed, and says $6 million worth of medical cannabis would go to waste if he's stripped of his license. read more >
In this file photo, Dr. Carl Johnson of 2600 Holdings of Little Rock, left, speaks with Abtin Mehdizadegan, center, and Brett Taylor, right, attorneys with Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus P.C.
Government & Politics / Legal

Judge Rules Fort Smith Cannabis Cultivator Got License Improperly

A Pulaski County circuit judge rules that the Medical Marijuana Commission and others acted “unreasonably, unlawfully, and capriciously” by awarding a cultivation license to River Valley Relief Cultivation of Fort Smith. read more >
Abtin Mehdizadegan, left, and Brett Taylor, attorneys with Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus PC, representing Southern Roots Cultivation, led by Dr. Carl Johnson, right.
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Health Care

Medical Marijuana Licensing Under FireLock Icon

Sworn depositions reveal that the original licensing process was questionable enough to spawn an FBI investigation. read more >
The Arkansas Supreme Court building in Little Rock.
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Legal

Justices Deliver a Scolding to Cannabis Commission

The state Supreme Court's dissent cites past shortcomings the commission has exhibited. read more >
Absolute Essence LLC submitted its dispenseary application to the state medical marijuana commission in 2017.
Business Services / Government & Politics / Health Care

Racial Bias Alleged In Dispensary Denial

A Little Rock Black-owned business that sued the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission also has a case alleging racial discrimination against the firm that scored the applications for medical marijuana dispensary licenses. read more >
Eddie Armstrong III, a former state lawmaker and Democratic leader, is gathering signatures for an industry-backed push to legalize recreational marijuana.
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Health Care

Adult Marijuana Use No Threat to LicenseesLock Icon

A potential vote this year on legalizing recreational marijuana in Arkansas could cripple sales in the state’s fledgling quarter-billion-dollar-a-year medicinal cannabis industry, but industry players are more than fine with that. read more >
Carpenter-Haygood Stadium at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia
Education / Government & Politics / Restaurants & Food

Permit Request Claims Henderson State Ready for AlcoholLock Icon

Sodexo Operations has asked the state for permits to serve alcohol at Henderson State University’s Garrison Center and Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia. read more >
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Manufacturing

Van Buren County Still in the GameLock Icon

Sandro J. Lukanovic has been granted a conditional permit by the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division for Van Buren County's first (legal) distillery. read more >
Craven Foods, a grocery store on Highway 16 at Fairfield Bay, promptly installed a “wine and beer cave” after Van Buren County went wet in January, but was not successful in getting one of only two liquor store licenses for the county.
Government & Politics / Legal / Real Estate

Legal Alcohol Sales Push Up Revenue in Van Buren County

Van Buren County, long part of a wall of dry counties in north-central Arkansas, has spent the past six months transitioning to a wet county, bringing an increase in sales tax revenue and excitement. read more >
Government & Politics / Restaurants & Food / Small Business

‘New Normal’ in Dining Out: Dining OutsideLock Icon

Montine McNulty thinks COVID-19 will leave permanent marks on the restaurant industry in Arkansas, among them: increased outdoor dining. read more >
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Health Care

Medical Marijuana Licensing Tests Scales of JusticeLock Icon

As Arkansas’ fledgling medical marijuana industry passed $300 million in cumulative sales, its licensing system for cannabis businesses was taking fire in court, not least for granting a cultivation license to a company that didn’t legally exist. read more >
Robert Lercher, who couldn’t touch the plants without gloves, mimics peeling “sucker leaves” from immature plants
Agriculture & Poultry / Health Care / Investments

Arkansas Pot Firms Feud, Pass Around The BlameLock Icon

The state’s largest medical marijuana merchant says Arkansas cultivators have blackballed his business, and he’s planning to sue, alleging they cut off sales after he lobbied for the state to license more growers. read more >
Johnny Akins, co-owner of Legacy Wine & Spirits in Little Rock and president of the United Beverage Retailers of Arkansas.
Government & Politics / Legal / Restaurants & Food

Liquor Retailers Seek Permanent Status of DeliveryLock Icon

The Arkansas liquor industry will likely be asking the state Legislature to pass a bill permanently allowing the delivery of alcohol. read more >
Storm Nolan, owner of River Valley Relief Cultivation, has a license to grow medical marijuana in a 25,000-SF section of warehouse in Fort Smith.  Only a lawsuit stands in his way.
Agriculture & Poultry / Construction / Government & Politics

Room to Grow: State Adds New Cannabis Growers

The Arkansas medical marijuana system has cleared three new growers, but the existing five cultivators are suing. read more >
A sample illustration of the Arkansas Department of Health's identification card issued to medical marijuana patients.
Government & Politics / Health Care / Retail

Smoke Clears on Cannabis CardsLock Icon

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. read more >
Agriculture & Poultry / Government & Politics / Health Care

Medical Marijuana Litigation Grows Like WeedsLock Icon

A Pulaski County circuit judge took a whiff of a medical marijuana licensing dispute last month and promptly passed it on. read more >
Ted Herget, the owner of Gearhead Outfitters of Jonesboro.
Business Services / Media & Marketing / Restaurants & Food

In Coronavirus Outbreak, Arkansas Businesses Fight for Their FutureLock Icon

The voices of small-business owners in Arkansas betray their anxiety, even anguish approaching grief, as they fight for their future — and a future for their employees — in a world upended by a deadly pandemic. read more >