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Medical marijuana commissioner frustrated over sale delays in NWA Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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RENOVATIONS ON THEIR DISPENSARY TWO DAYS AGO, HAVING JUST RECEIVED THEIR PERMIT TO BUILD ON MONDAY. MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMMISSIONER TRAVIS STORY SAY HIS BIGGEST FRUSTRATION ARE TH DELAYS ACROSS THE STATE AND ESPECIALLY HERE IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. nats (ERIK DANIELSON, ARKANSAS MEDICINAL SOURCE) "There will be a sale counter here where the budtenders will sell the medical marijuana to the patients." ARKANSAS MEDICINAL SOURCE IS WORKING HARD TO OPEN, BUT IT'S ONE OF THE MANY DISPENSARIES ACROSS THE STATE NOT OPENING AS EARLY AS PLANNED. (TRAVIS STORY, MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMMISSIONER) "My frustration is in the applications, there have been multiple representations as to how long it would actually take to get open. And it seems as if some of the various entities are exceeding their timelines by a good margin." TRAVIS STOR IS ONE OF THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA COMMISSIONERS FOR THE STATE. WHILE HE'S THRILLED MARIJUANA IS NOW ACCESSIBLE, HE'S CONCERNED PATIENTS IN OUR AREA STILL HAVE TO TRAVEL HOURS TO GET IT. "We've asked for counsel to go and look at some of our options. Under our rules, we talk about being able to actually get to market and you actually have to take your license to market. There's no current deadline for that but I think it's imperative that we look at those kind of deadlines and see if someone is not bringing their dispensary of cultivation facilities onlin they we as a commission need to look at that and see if there is a way we can address it." ERIK DANIELSON WITH ARKANSAS MEDICINAL SOURCE SAYS SEEING THE FIRST DISPENSARIES OPEN PUSHED THEM TO OPEN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THAT MEANS THEIR PLANNED GROWTH SITE WILL HAVE TO WAIT. "Because of some lee times for some of the specialty equipment some additional questions the city had, that was going to slow us down. So we decided to resubmit for just retail only and we'll g back - circle back around with the city latter when we're open to buildout t back part of the building. ARKANSAS MEDICINAL SOURCE PLANS OPEN LATE JULY OR EARLY AUGUST PENDING ANY PROBLEMS. ANOTHER DISPENSARY IN BENTONVILLE, T RELIEF CENTER, SAYS THEY WILL BE OPENING MID JULY AS WELL. LIVE IN BENTONVILLE JW 4029 NEWS. LIKE JAMIE SAID - THERE WERE TWO DISPENSARIES APPROVED IN BENTONVILLE... WE TALKED WITH BENTONVILLE MAYOR STEPHANIE ORMAN TONIGHT - ABOUT THE NEW BUSINESSES COMING IN TO THE CITY. 4:05 the voters have voted for it - and so as a city we'll listen to the state statutes and that's how we'll do it - it was voted o and we'll do for any busine THE STATE COMMISSION SCORED THE DISPENSARY APPLICATION - PLACING TWO IN THE CITY LIMITS. 32 MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES WERE APPROVED ACROSS THE STATE... EIGHT OF THEM ... IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AND THE RIVER VALLEY. IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS - THE OTHER TWO LOCATIONS ARE IN FAYETTEVILLE. HERE'S A LOOK AT THE RIVER VALLEY DISPENSARIES... O IS IN FORT SMITH - ONE IN BLUFFTON - ONE IN RUSSELVILLE - AND ONE IN CLARKSVILLE. TURNING NOW TO OUR WEATHER - WE'RE TRACKING HOT TEMPERATURES MOVING IN ... 40/29'S TAYLOR PANNELL JOINING US TONIGHT WITH JUST HOW HOT IT COULD GET. TEMPERATURES HOT AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE 80S AND 90S. HEAT INDEX HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 100 DEGREES FOR SOME IN THE RIVER VALLEY. EVEN HOTTER TOMORROW. POOL FORECAST RIVER VALLEY HOT AFTERNOON FOR US TOMORROW. SLIGHT CHANCE AT A SHOWER OR STORM IN THE MORNING. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 90S WITH HEAT INDEX VALUES EVEN HIGHER. SOUTH WINDS COULD BE BREEZY. POOL FORECAST NWA HOT AFTERNOON FOR US TOMORROW. SLIGHT CHANCE AT A SHOWER OR STORM IN THE MORNING. HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 90S WITH HEAT INDEX VALUES EVEN HIGHER. SOUTH WINDS COULD BE BREEZY. TODAY - FEMA OFFICIALS WERE ON THE GROUND IN LEFLORE AND SEQUOYAH COUNTY... HELPING FLOOD VICTIMS ASSES THE DAMAGE. THIS IS VIDEO FROM LEFLORE COUNTY - WHERE THOSE RISING RIVER WATERS CAUSED DAMAGED TO LAND ALL AROUND... THERE ARE SEVERAL RESOURCES TO HELP YOU - FROM GRANT MONEY - TO LOW INTEREST LOANS FROM THE SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION. FEMA HAS LOCATIONS SET UP ACRO OUR REGION - WHERE YOU CAN APPLY FOR ASSISTANCE - OR CHECK ON YOUR APPLICATION. THERE'S A MOBILE CENTER SET UP AT SPIRO HIGH SCHOOL - AND ANOTHE LOCATION IN THE MOFFETT PUBLIC SCHOOLS PARKING LOT. IN ARKANSAS THERE'S A CENTER SET UP AT THE MULBERRY COMMUNITY CENTER - AND AT THE DARDANELLE COMMUNITY CENTERS. IF YOU'RE CLEANING UP FLOOD DAMAGE - AND WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE UP TO DATE ON IMPORTANT VACCINATIONS - THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH IS HELPING OUT - FREE OF CHARGE. FOR THE NEXT MONTH - YOU CAN GET HEPATITIS A ... AND TETANUS VACCINES AT NO COST - AT "LOCAL HEALTH UNITS THESE ARE TWO ILLNESSES THAT CAN BE CONTRACTED DURING FLOOD EVENTS... THE VACCINES ARE FREE - BUT THEY ASK IF YOU HAVE INSURANCE - TO BRING YOUR CARD WITH YOU... OFFFICIALS SAY THESE VACCINES CAN RUN UPWARDS OF FIFTY DOLLARS NORMALLY. 2:00-2:13 it's a fair amount of money that in the context of this flooding is money that we're hoping to help out with the state of arkansas has found mone to support this so there is no charge out of pocket for vaccine THE SHOTS ARE AVAILABLE TO ANYONE THAT LIVES IN THE AFFECTED COUNTIES... THERE ARE HEALTH UNITS IN EVERY COUNTY IN THE STATE...THEY'RE OPEN FROM 8 AM TO 4:30 P.M. ONE OF THE DROP OFF SPOTS FOR DEBRIS IN SEBASTIAN COUNTY WILL CLOSE THIS WEEKEND... THE DUMPSTER IN CENTRAL CITY WILL CLOSE ON SATURDAY AT TWO P.M. THE LOCATION IN LAVACA - AT 301- RODEO ARENA ROAD WILL BE OPE THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY... OFFICIALS SAY THEY'LL MONITOR IT - TO SEE IF THE DATE NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED. AN INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY TONIGHT - AFTER SEVERAL KITTENS WERE DUMPED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY... THESE ARE PHOTOS SHARED BY THE WILSON ZOO - A RESCUE ORGANIZATION IN THE AREA... THEY SAY FIFTEEN KITTENS WERE DROPPED OFF IN CRATES ON TUESDAY NIGHT... THAT'S THE SAME NIGHT OUR AREA SAW A LOT OF RAIN. AS RESULT - THEY SAY SEVERAL LITTLE KITTENS DIED... THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS THEY ARE INVESTIGATING RI