After rejecting one medical-marijuana bill and tabling another Wednesday, the House Rules Committee approved both in short order Thursday.
House Bill 1298, by Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, would require a license for a dispensary or cultivation operation to be held by a person instead of a business or corporation.
House Bill 1371, also by House, would require that Arkansans hold 60 percent ownership interest in dispensaries and cultivation facilities. It also contains a provision that would require people, not corporations, to hold licenses.
The committee rejected HB1298 and tabled HB1371 on Wednesday after Sylvester Smith, a lobbyist who represents medical-marijuana grower and seller Columbia Care, told lawmakers that the bill would allow business owners -- or their proxies -- to be sued as individuals.
House said Thursday that the point of the bills is to hold individuals accountable and ensure Arkansans are the majority owners in dispensaries and cultivation operations.
"We took the time to talk with each one of the members and explain to them that corporate ownership is fine, LLC ownership is fine, but the main thing that we're looking for is Arkansans in actual control," he said when asked by reporters what changed.
The voter-approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment requires 60 percent of the owners to be Arkansans, but there's a potential loophole in the provision, House said.
If there were 10 owners of a dispensary, seven could be Arkansans to satisfy the amendment, but the remaining three out-of-state owners could hold a disproportionately larger share in the organization.
Melissa Fults, executive director of Drug Policy Education Group, was at the committee to advocate for the bills.
"There are a lot of corporations, dummy corporations, and we want to make sure that there is one person that is responsible in making sure that this is done properly, that they handle the medicine properly and that it's not going out the back door," she said.
No one else spoke for or against the bills.
While no dissent was heard in voice votes, few of the lawmakers affirmatively voted to advance the bills.
They now head to the House floor for further consideration.
A Section on 02/10/2017
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