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Arkansas Medical Marijuana industry booming amid Coronavirus outbreak Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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EFFORT TO SOCIAL DISTANCE ... AND JAMIE, WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? OVER $565,000 DOLLARS WAS SPENT THIS PAST FRIDAY ALONE. MARCH 20, WAS THE BIGGEST DAY OF REVENUE THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION HAS RECORDED SINCE MEDICAL MARIJUANA SALES BEGAN. "We have seen roughly a 75 to 80% increase in business from volumes of patients and sales all across the board. um I think that's due to patients thinking we may close, so they're trying to stock up, um as well as maybe there's a heightened level of stress, i don't know. But um it has worked in the opposite way for us than it has for a lot of other businesses." AND BUSINESS IS BOOMING FOR THE ARKANSAS MEDICAL MARIJUANA INDUSTRY. ON MARCH 20TH ALONE, 92 POUNDS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA WAS SOLD ACROSS THE STATE, A THIRD OF THOSE SALES HAPPENING RIGHT IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. "we don't know specifically what to attribute that to. but certainly we know the covid- 19 response is going to play a part in that. and what we think is likely Arkansans are just stocking up when they go to the dispensary. Instead of making that minimum purchase, they may be making that 2.5 ounce maximum purchase, which is a significant purchase. If you look at, consider it maybe $400 an ounce, you're looking at spending almost $1000 every two weeks and it looks like quite a few Arkansans are doing that. " ALL 21 DISPENSARIES OPEN IN ARKANSAS ARE TAKING MEASURES TO KEEP PATIENTS SAFE AMID THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK. SHOPS LIKE THE RELEAF CENTER ARE SANITIZING EVERY SURFACE INSIDE AND BRINGING IN CREWS TO DEEP CLEAN THE STORE, WHILE PUSHING CUSTOMERS TOWARDS OPTIONS LIKE CURBSIDE OR DELIVERY. "So we're now at 40 miles, that now encompasses pretty much all of Fayetteville. Obviously Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers. Goes all the way out to Siloam, even parts of Eureka Springs. So we're trying to make sure that we're helping as many patients as we can right now. There's a lot of people who don't want to go out of the house right now, and we understand that, so we're just trying to help." SCOTT HARDIN SAYS NO DISPENSARIES HAVE SHUT THEIR DOORS BECAUSE OF COVID-19 YET. WHEN WE ASKED THE RELEAF CENTER ABOUT THEIR PLANS? "The governor has deemed us I believe an essential business, so for the time being we're going to remain open." THE RELEAF CENTER HAS SCALED BACK ON THEIR HOURS, THAT WAY EMPLOYEES JUST WORK ONE LONG SHIFT SO MULTIPLE PEOPLE AREN'T COMING AND GOING FROM