The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission on Tuesday again delayed its timeframe for licensing the state's first medical cannabis dispensaries.
Commissioners were to have reviewed dispensary license application scores at a scheduled meeting today, but they postponed the session until Jan. 9 because an official from the company hired to grade the applications was unable to attend. State officials also wanted to give new commission members time to learn their roles.
One new commissioner, a Benton Police Department captain, was appointed to the commission Monday; two additional appointments to the five-member board are being considered by leaders of the state House of Representatives and Senate.
A spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said Tuesday that the agency doesn't expect the meeting's postponement to substantially affect the timeline for opening the state's first dispensary. Officials still expect the drug to first be available for purchase in April.
Still, patients met Tuesday's news with a collective groan, said Melissa Fults, executive director of the Drug Policy Education Group, a patient advocacy organization.
"Patients are livid," Fults said. "It's heartbreaking. It passed two years ago, and still nothing."
Arkansans voted to legalize the growth, sale and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2016, approving Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution.
The amendment also created the Medical Marijuana Commission to license companies to grow and sell the drug.
After lengthy regulatory and legal delays, the commission issued the first five medical marijuana cultivation licenses in July. It's in the middle of the dispensary licensing process.
The board hired Public Consulting Group of Boston to grade about 200 applications for medical cannabis dispensary licenses.
Arkansas, like many states, has struggled to implement its medical marijuana program since the referendum. But neighboring Oklahoma, which legalized medical cannabis in June, saw its first dispensaries open for business in October.
Fults noted the discrepancy between Arkansas and its neighbor and said many Arkansas patients have gone to Oklahoma for their medicine.
The leader of the Arkansas Senate on Monday appointed a police captain and medical marijuana opponent to the state Medical Marijuana Commission.
Kevin Russell, a captain at the Benton Police Department, will replace Commissioner Dr. Carlos Roman, whose term expired Dec. 12.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jonathan Dismang, R-Searcy, appointed Russell in consultation with Senate President Pro Tempore-elect Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs.
"Capt. Russell will provide a great deal of value to the commission," Dismang said. "He has studied the industry extensively and has seen programs implemented in other states. With much of the work left for the commissioners revolving around security measures, I think his background in law enforcement is very valuable."
In addition to Roman, Commissioner Stephen Carroll's two-year term ended last week. Carroll's replacement will be appointed by House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado.
Cecillea Pond-Mayo, an Arkansas House spokesman, said Tuesday that Shepherd was actively working to appoint Carroll's successor. The rules allow Carroll to remain on the commission until a replacement is named, she said.
A third commissioner, James Miller, also submitted his resignation, effective Dec. 10, saying he wanted to focus more time on his work and family. It's unclear when the Senate leader will name his replacement.
The leaders of the two chambers of the General Assembly each appoint two commissioners; the governor appoints the fifth member.
Russell, who was appointed to a four-year term, said in a Monday interview that his law enforcement background will help the commission, particularly, on transportation and security matters.
Russell, who has worked 19 1/2 years in law enforcement, said that although he opposed the amendment in 2016, he'll work to implement the people's will. He added that he has a background in drug prevention and education.
"It's something the voters passed, of course, in 2016," Russell said. "I myself feel that we need to get it up and running, and I think we can do that in a responsible manner going forward."
Russell in 2016 was the president and a board member of the Coalition for Safer Arkansas Communities -- a ballot-question committee that opposed "any and all efforts to legalize the use of marijuana in the State of Arkansas in the 2016 election cycle and future election cycles."
Russell replaces Roman, a Little Rock pain management doctor and controversial member of the commission. He accused one cultivation license applicant of trying to bribe him. Those allegations were turned over to federal authorities for criminal investigation. Both Roman and the applicant have denied wrongdoing.
Fults was critical of Russell's appointment, and she faulted the governor and legislative leaders for appointing commissioners who opposed Amendment 98.
"They needed at least one cannabis patient advocate on there that had the patients' interests at the center rather than people who opposed it," Fults said.
The Arkansas Department of Health has approved 6,638 patients for medical marijuana registry ID cards. The cards, issued to those with one of 18 qualifying conditions, allow patients to buy, possess and use medical cannabis, which must be grown in Arkansas.
Metro on 12/19/2018