Garland County's monopoly on medical marijuana sales ended last week, but the competition has yet to make inroads into the county's market share of what was a $1.72 million business as of Wednesday morning.

Green Springs Medical, 309 Seneca St., and Doctor's Orders RX, 4897 Malvern Ave., controlled more than 95 percent of sales through Wednesday morning, according to information provided by the state Department of Finance and Administration.

Green Springs continued to set the pace, selling 174 pounds since opening May 12. Doctor's Orders had sold 75 pounds since it opened May 10. It was the first location to sell the drug legally in Arkansas.

Arkansas Natural Products in Clinton sold 9 pounds since opening June 20. About $1.72 million in total sales were made as of Wednesday morning. The Garland County dispensaries charged $15 per gram when they opened last month.

The three dispensaries are the only ones in operation of 32 licensed statewide. DFA said Greenlight Dispensary in Helena-West Helena could be the next to open, getting approval Tuesday from the agency's Alcohol Beverage Control division.

Native Green Wellness Center in Hensley, near the Saline and Pulaski County line, was inspected by ABC Tuesday, but its approval to open is still pending. It, Green Springs and Doctor's Orders have three of the four licenses allocated to Zone 6, the eight-county region that includes Garland and Saline counties.

Natural State Medical Group at 1402 Airport Road is the other licensee. The state Medical Marijuana Commission denied Natural State's request to locate its grow operation off-site at its meeting last week. Dispensaries can keep up to 50 mature marijuana plants on site. The relocation request was one of several on the commission's agenda.

The rule-making body directed its staff to look into why more dispensaries aren't operating. Voters passed the medical marijuana amendment in November 2016, making the medicinal form of the drug legal in Arkansas and authorizing up to 40 dispensaries.

Only three locations were operating as of Wednesday, serving more than 14,000 patients the Arkansas Department of Health has certified as having a condition qualifying for medical marijuana treatment.

Local on 06/27/2019