Regulators and Advocates Discuss Future of Arkansas Medical Marijuana

Last week, Montel Williams gave a keynote speech at a medical marijuana symposium in Little Rock. The event was organized by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association. Montel Williams is a medical marijuana user himself as he treats multiple sclerosis.

Williams has accepted a position on the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association board, according to UALR Public Radio. A hot topic of discussion was the license application process. One applicant, hoping to become a licensed distributor, reported that the applications were about 1,000 pages long.

The applicant said, “The application process was rather in tense. We had over a three-and-a-half week process of 18 hours a day, just really in depth, very in-depth process.”

The Department of Finance and Administration reports receiving about 300 applications licenses to cultivate and operate dispensaries.

Williams wants to see the revenue from the medical marijuana industry benefit the state’s patients. Mollie Balfe of South Arkansas Cannabis Solutions, agrees. Balfe says that El Dorado would benefit from having a dispensary.

Balfe said, “I think that it is the individual company’s responsibility to stimulate their own community with the money that they may make. As far as what the state does with their money, I feel that’s something out of our control.”

She also said, “We are in this for our patients’ care. Great, we’ll make a wonderful profit in the meantime, but first and foremost we care about our patients and in the next five years, think of all the patients there are to come. Tens of thousands will apply as they increase the amounts of qualifying conditions, and with those increased qualifying conditions will come more research.”

Balfe says that South Arkansas Cannabis Solutions group plans to offer free medical marijuana products to El Dorado hospice patients. They’re hopeful that this may help the community’s opioid epidemic.

Balfe said, “People out there are worried people are going to get addicted to cannabis, that it’s a ‘gateway drug’. But, as Montel said, it could be the gateway drug away from opioids. And I feel in Union County we have a clear problem with that.”

MyKenya Fletcher is another multiple sclerosis patient. She attended the symposium after traveling from Pine Bluff. She is considering getting a medical marijuana card.

Fletcher said, “So far, I’ve gotten to the point now where I don’t have the pain, but I have other problems. So I was just trying to see exactly, if I did have to do it, would it benefit me or not.”

Fletcher also said, ““I have numbness, and I know what he’s talking about in the feet. It feels like rocks. I’ve had that in my hand, it felt like I left my hand sitting in hot, scalding water. The mobility problems, and some memory problems, short-term memory problems.”

Although there are glowing reports and personal testimonials touting medical marijuana’s ability to reduce MS symptoms, she’s still a little apprehensive.

She said, “Maybe. I’m not exactly sure, it all depends on whether or not it will work for me with the problems I have. Because like I said, a lot of times it’s for the pain and I usually don’t have pain, I’ve come to a stage where I’m pain-free pretty much. But I’m not going to say I’m going to stay that way.”

Applicants for business licenses should start getting answers in November.