5 named to Arkansas medical marijuana commission

3 in health care; amendment booster expected a business tilt

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (from left), Senate Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam talk Wednesday about their appointments to the new state board that will control who grows and sells medical marijuana in the state. “Licenses are going to be, I suspect, highly sought after, so we want to have a process that has credibility and integrity,” Hutchinson said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson (from left), Senate Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang and House Speaker Jeremy Gillam talk Wednesday about their appointments to the new state board that will control who grows and sells medical marijuana in the state. “Licenses are going to be, I suspect, highly sought after, so we want to have a process that has credibility and integrity,” Hutchinson said.

Members of a new state board that will determine who grows and sells medical-related marijuana in Arkansas were announced by the governor and legislative leaders Wednesday.

The appointments of the five -- two doctors, a lawyer, a pharmacy executive and a lobbyist -- met the first deadline set by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, which eventually will allow marijuana to be used for certain medical conditions. Voters approved the constitutional amendment last month.

"The people have spoken," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson during a news conference at the state Capitol. Along with the legislative leaders, the governor voted against the amendment. "It's our responsibility to take the steps necessary to implement -- in a fair, responsible way -- the amendment that was passed by the people of Arkansas."

The amendment created the Medical Marijuana Commission to "administer and regulate the licensing of dispensaries and cultivation facilities."

The amendment permits from four to eight cultivation facilities and from 20 to 40 dispensaries.

"Licenses are going to be, I suspect, highly sought after, so we want to have a process that has credibility and integrity," Hutchinson said.

The appointments by the governor and legislative leaders created a panel dominated by experts in health care.

The governor -- who names one person on the five-member commission -- appointed Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman of Little Rock, a surgical oncologist specializing in breast cancer at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, appointed James Miller of Bryant, a lobbyist for the Arkansas Railroad Association and a former aide to the senator; and Dr. Carlos Roman of Little Rock, a pain doctor and the chairman of the Arkansas State Medical Board's Pain Management Review Committee.

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House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, appointed Stephen Carroll of Benton, the chief operations officer of Allcare Correctional Pharmacy; and Travis Story of Fayetteville, the lead attorney at Story Law Firm.

None of the appointees responded to requests for comment Wednesday.

Dismang praised Miller as an expert in rules and regulation. Gillam said Story will provide necessary legal expertise.

Story was an attorney for Repeal 119, a group that successfully fought a Fayetteville ordinance to penalize businesses that fire, evict or turn away customers or employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Carroll's company serves the prescription drug needs of prisoners.

Hutchinson said the focus on those with medical experience was intentional.

"We have to remember, this is not recreational-use authorization. It is really not a marijuana commission. It is a medical marijuana commission," he said. "We're dealing with pain medication. We're dealing with the medical community and the implementation of medicine."

David Couch, the Little Rock lawyer behind the amendment, said he had expected a committee of business experts.

"They all appear to be fine people, but I was surprised it was heavy on the health care professional side and not the business side," he said.

"All that the marijuana commission does is come up with the regulations to develop the applications and the actual licensing of the cultivation facilities and the dispensaries. It has nothing to do with the product."

Lawmakers can change much of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment with a two-thirds vote. The sections legalizing the medical use of marijuana and setting the number of dispensaries or cultivation facilities are exempt from legislative changes.

Asked if lawmakers might change what the commission does, Gillam said: "As with much dealing with this amendment and the implementation of it, it's still very early in the process, and so I don't think there's any definitive statements that can be made at this point as to what will happen in the session."

After the news conference, Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, said there was growing support to appropriate about $30,000 in salary money for every commission member to support their work on the panel.

That's about the same salary schedule as those on the state Claims Commission, House said. He noted that the marijuana panel is composed of two physicians, a pharmacist, a lawyer and a government affairs expert.

"They make a bunch of money a day, and we're asking them for at least the next six months to invest a massive amount of time developing these rules and regulations and supervising this whole thing," he said. "It's unrealistic to ask them to do it for $85 a day."

The amendment said the commission "may authorize payment to its members of a stipend not to exceed eighty-five dollars ($85.00) per day for each meeting attended or for any day while performing any proper business of the commission."

Gillam gave House the task of organizing medical-marijuana legislation in the House.

House filed a bill last week to delay implementation by 60 days, to May 8. Couch said lawmakers got in touch with him before the bill was filed and he saw no problem with the delay.

Hutchinson noted Wednesday that marijuana is still illegal under federal law and there's uncertainty about what President-elect Donald Trump plans to do about states that have legalized medical marijuana.

Trump has said he supports medical marijuana. His pick for attorney general, U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is a marijuana foe.

"Jeff Sessions and I were U.S. attorneys together back in the '80s," Hutchinson said. "We know each other well, and I look forward to visiting with him about that, probably after his confirmation." Hutchinson also once headed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The governor said he has not talked about marijuana with the incoming federal administration but that implementation of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment will continue unless federal officials change their policy.

The next step is for Dismang to call the first meeting of the Medical Marijuana Commission. He has 15 days to do so.

Beyond the Medical Marijuana Commission, two state agencies are involved in implementing the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control agency of the Department of Finance and Administration will inspect the dispensaries where marijuana is sold and cultivation facilities where it's grown.

The Department of Health will issue registry identification cards for patients who have any of 18 qualifying conditions as defined in the amendment. Among the permitted conditions are cancer, glaucoma, Tourette's syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and hepatitis C.

Both state agencies must promulgate rules and regulations before the amendment can go into effect.

In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 215, making the Golden State the first in the union to allow for the medical use of marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since then, 27 more states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico have enacted similar laws.

A Section on 12/08/2016

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