As Missouri enters a phase when patients will soon be able to apply for medical marijuana ID cards, the Arkansas medical marijuana program now features newly opened dispensaries that are serving patients.

Dispensaries sold 52 pounds of medical marijuana during the first week of sales, which began May 11. Sales totaled $353,802, according to state figures reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. That dollar amount does not include a 13.5-percent sales tax and a 4-percent "privilege tax" charged for Arkansas medical marijuana purchases.

Marijuana Business Daily reported that the Arkansas first-week sales data included 4,787 transactions. Early Arkansas sales were greater than sales during a similar period in Ohio, which has almost four times the population.

There are just two dispensaries currently active in the Natural State, with more expected to be ready in the coming months: Doctor's Orders RX, the first to be approved, and Green Springs Medical Dispensary. Both are located in Hot Springs.

Dragan Vicentic, CEO of Green Springs Medical, said his dispensary has been busy. It served about 250 people during its first day.

"With only two dispensaries open, we're kind of getting everybody from the four corners of the state because we're centrally located," Vicentic told the News-Leader Thursday morning.

Arkansas state officials have so far approved just one cultivation operation. Even though more grow operations are due to be approved, allowing more shipments of product to dispensaries, Vicentic said people have complained about the high cost of Arkansas legal marijuana.

It is currently priced at $15 per gram, according to the Democrat-Gazette. The street value of black-market marijuana is significantly lower.

"This happens in every single state of the 33 states with medical marijuana," Vicentic said. "The first (cultivator) to market puts a higher price on it because there's no competition."

In Vicentic's view, legal marijuana is a superior product because it is tested for THC and cannabinoid levels, so buyers can be aware of what they're purchasing. Vicentic also said the industry expects the state to approve two more grow operations in the month of June.

"Hopefully, when those come on board, prices will flatten out a bit and more people will appreciate that," he said. "This is the state where Walmart started, so everybody looks for that deal."

Vicentic said he is worried that as more dispensaries open, Green Springs Medical's numbers will fall a bit, but he is also hopeful that more patients will register for medical marijuana cards as the number of Arkansas dispensaries goes up.

Participation in the program is expected to be around 1 percent of Arkansas' population of 3 million people, Vicentic said.

The most recent data posted to the Arkansas Department of Health website shows that 12,442 patients have been approved for medical marijuana ID cards. One percent of Arkansas' population would be about 30,000 patients.

In 2017, 53.2 percent of Arkansas voters went for a medical marijuana amendment that has been held up with more than two years of legal and bureaucratic delay.

That lag time hasn't been much of a problem for Green Springs Medical. "It just kind of put us on the back burner," Vicentic said.

Vicentic estimated 12 or 13 dispensaries "haven't even started" going after state approval, possibly due to the delay or financial concerns.

Vicentic said that he had hoped the Arkansas legislature would allow for an easy system to check medical marijuana ID cards from other states so visitors could buy marijuana, but that doesn't appear likely.

"The idea of 'oh, we're going to Hot Springs this weekend and we'd love to medicate' is not going to happen unless they plan way ahead," he told the News-Leader. Out-of-state registered patients will have to apply to the Arkansas Department of Health, pay a fee and wait for a mailed card.

Meanwhile, the Arkansas medical cannabis law has some key differences when compared to Missouri's law.

Qualifying patients and caregivers in Arkansas may not grow their own marijuana. Missouri Amendment 2 allows limited home cultivation for patients and caregivers with ID cards.

Arkansas law prohibits Arkansas National Guard or U.S. military members from obtaining a medical marijuana card.

Arkansas patients must be certified by a doctor, as in Missouri, but the list of qualifying health conditions for Arkansas medical marijuana is different. Patients may petition the Arkansas Department of Health to add "any other medical condition" to the list. It includes the following:

Cancer

Glaucoma

Positive status for HIV/AIDS

Hepatitis C

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Tourette’s syndrome

Crohn’s disease

Ulcerative colitis

Post-traumatic stress disorder

Severe arthritis

Fibromyalgia

Alzheimer’s disease

Cachexia or wasting syndrome

Peripheral neuropathy

Intractable pain which is pain that has not responded to ordinary medications, treatment or surgical measures for more than six (6) months

Severe nausea

Seizures including without limitation those characteristic of epilepsy

Severe and persistent muscle spasms including without limitation those characteristic of multiple sclerosis

and any other medical condition or its treatment approved by the Department of Health.

As Missouri and Arkansas go through early experiences as medical cannabis states, the national scene emphasizes the rapidly growing recreational, or adult-use, market.

The Marijuana Business Factbook already projects that recreational sales outweigh medical sales nationwide. Medical sales in 2019 are expected to total $4.2 to $5.2 billion, while recreational sales may top out between $7 to $8.5 billion.

By 2023, total retail sales could be more than $30 billion, with the recreational portion making up nearly three-fourths of the total.

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