The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission signed off Wednesday on a new online portal for cannabis businesses in hopes of streamlining a process currently reliant on paper.
The online portal will allow medical marijuana businesses to renew their permits online. Currently, medical marijuana businesses can apply for their permits only via mail or in person at the Department of Finance and Administration's office in Little Rock.
Chip Leibovich, staff attorney for Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control, said the new portal also will allow cannabis employees to apply for their Registration Identification Cards online, rather than waiting for them in the mail or picking them up in person in Little Rock. Sending in paper applications via mail will remain an option for those who want it, Leibovich said.
Obtaining a Registration Identification Card is a prerequisite for anyone looking to work for a medical marijuana business in Arkansas, which requires a prospective employee to pass a state and federal background check. Leibovich said the new online portal will allow the Department of Finance to process someone's Registration Identification Card "within days, maybe even less."
"So this will allow folks to do the Registration Identification Cards 100% online," Leibovich said. "So submit the paperwork online, pay for this for online. You can also have the cards emailed to you as well, so there will be no need for anyone to mail checks into Little Rock or send a driver down to Little Rock to pick up [Registration Identification] cards anymore."
The online portal is developed by Tyler Technologies, which has a $1.8 million contract over four years with the state, according to Department of Finance and Administration spokesman Scott Hardin.
The marijuana commission also voted Wednesday to table votes on the proposed transfer of ownership for two cannabis businesses, Good Day Farm Cultivation in Little Rock and Body and Mind Dispensary in West Memphis. The commission, which did not discuss the decision Wednesday, will take up the transfer of ownership vote for the businesses at its next meeting in January.