MORE DISPENSARIES COMING THIS FALL: According to a list compiled by Alcohol Beverage Control, many of the 25 remaining unopened medical marijuana dispensaries will open in September and October.

MORE DISPENSARIES COMING THIS FALL: According to a list compiled by Alcohol Beverage Control, many of the 25 remaining unopened medical marijuana dispensaries will open in September and October.

In a meeting of the state Medical Marijuana Commission on Tuesday afternoon, commissioners approved name changes for three dispensaries, floor plan changes for five dispensaries and change in ownership requests for four dispensaries. The commission also approved a change in location request for Noah’s Ark dispensary in El Dorado.

The Fiddler’s Green, LLC dispensary in Mountain View was approved to change its name to “Fiddler’s Green Medical Marijuana Dispensary.” The dispensary’s change in ownership request was also approved. At the commission’s last meeting on June 19, Lisa Murphy, CEO of Fiddler’s Green, said the dispensary wanted to remove James Booth as a stakeholder in the company, but at the time, Booth had not signed an agreement to sell his share in the business. At Tuesday’s meeting, proper documentation and signatures were provided, so the commission approved the request.

Arkansas Medicinal Source Patient Center, which Alcohol Beverage Control spokesperson Scott Hardin said could open this week, was approved to have “The Source” added as a “fictitious name” and “trade name” under which it plans to operate. Doralee Chandler, director of the ABC administration, said The Source anticipates it will open for business in Bentonville next week.

Fayetteville’s Valentine Holdings, LLC, was approved to change its name to “Purspirit Cannabis Co.”


Doctor’s Orders Rx in Hot Springs, 420 RX in Russellville, Purspirit Cannabis Co., Delta Cannabis Company of West Memphis and Acanza of Fayetteville were all approved for changes in their floor plans.

Natural State Medical’s request for a change in ownership was approved. Owner Mary Caroom will sell her 30 percent ownership stake in the business to Zada Adamentz. Owner Tommy Ives will also sell 9 percent of his 30 percent ownership stake to Melton Collozo, whose current 3 percent stake will increase to a 12 percent stake.


Plant Family Therapeutics in Baxter County — in North Central Arkansas’s dispensary zone 2 — was approved to allow owner James Compton to transfer his 40 percent ownership stake in the business to Giving Tree LLC, a business he owns with his sons Ken and Kevin Compton.

Acanza was also approved for a change in ownership. Acanza will add Dani Hendrix as an owner of a 4 percent stake in the business. Janinne Riggs, who owns a 17.19 percent stake in the dispensary, will sell 16.19 of her ownership stake divided among current owners: 4 percent to owner Joseph Jansen, 2 percent to owner Grady Harvell, 6 percent to owner Richard Hutson, and 4.19 percent to new owner Hendrix. Riggs will retain a 1 percent ownership stake in the company.

Noah’s Ark, LLC in El Dorado was approved for a change in location. The dispensary will move from its current address at 3955 Mt. Holly Road to a new site at 3213 Northwest Ave. The dispensary originally requested this change in location at last June’s meeting, but the commission tabled it until the business could prove that the new location meets zoning standards requiring the dispensary to be at least 1,500 feet from any church, school or daycare. The dispensary presented maps and surveys displaying that it met these requirements, so the commission approved the request.

Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman, who chairs the commission, asked representatives from Noah’s Ark when it expects to open.


“We’re chomping at the bit,” Will McGowan, a representative for the dispensary, told the commission. He said it hopes to start site work on the approved new location tomorrow if possible, and added that he anticipates a January opening.

The commission began reviewing rules for processors, who will be licensed to process cannabis given to them by cultivators or dispensaries with grow licenses to then make different cannabis products, such as concentrates, extracts, edibles and topicals. After all the commissioners shared concerns that they didn’t know enough about the “requirements” processors will have to meet in order to be licensed, Chandler said the commission would be provided with the ABC’s draft of processor rules sometime in the next two weeks.

Chandler also provided updates to the commission about the status of dispensaries and cultivators. She said the remaining two cultivators who’ve yet to open — Natural State Wellness Enterprises and Delta Medical Cannabis Company, both of Jonesboro — should be open before the end of the year. Six dispensaries are open, and if The Source opens next week, that will bring the state’s count up to seven.

Chandler shared that the rest of the state’s 32 dispensaries have shared potential opening dates with the ABC, and several hope to come “on board” in September and October. She noted that dispensaries in Northeast Arkansas’s Zone 3 “are estimating probably the latest” opening dates.

The commission will meet next at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 18.