State officials Thursday finalized an agreement with an out-of-state consultant to grade Arkansas' first medical marijuana selling license applications, clearing the way for the first 32 dispensaries to be licensed in just over a month.

The first medical cannabis is expected to be available for purchase early next year, according to Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration officials.

The agreement with Boston-based Public Consulting Group Inc. is the next step in escaping the regulatory and legal quagmire that has delayed the rollout of the state's medical-cannabis program for nearly two years since Arkansans voted to legalize the drug for medical use.

Public Consulting Group will have 30 days to evaluate the 203 dispensary applications after a soon-expected meeting between company representatives and the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission. The 30-day clock will start ticking once the applications are transferred to Public Consulting Group after that meeting.

"Dispensaries were given the option of applying as a 'grow' location, which provides the dispensary the option of maintaining up to 50 plants on-site," said Scott Hardin, a Finance Department spokesman. "This includes the option of bringing in a number of mature plants. Due to this, with 32 dispensary licenses to be issued in or around November, it is likely a number of dispensaries may open for business in the first quarter of 2019.

As cultivation facilities start production, additional dispensaries will begin operations."

Members of the state Medical Marijuana Commission -- a five-member board consisting of legislative and gubernatorial appointees -- graded the almost 100 cultivation license applications themselves earlier in the year, but they voted to outsource dispensary scoring because of time constraints and the myriad controversies that surrounded the cultivation license process.

Public Consulting Group submitted the lowest of two bids for the dispensary-scoring contract last month. The company said it could evaluate the applications for $99,472; the other bidder, ICF Incorporate LLC, submitted a bid of $361,514.

"Since the two bids were opened and Public Consulting Group (PCG) was provided notice of award, the agreement has been under review, with DFA's Office of State Procurement answering a variety of questions," Hardin said. "All parties understood taking an extra few days to responsibly execute this agreement could prevent significant delays in the future."

A Public Consulting Group spokesman didn't respond to a phone message and email seeking comment Thursday.

Licensing delays have frustrated registered patients and prospective licensees. As of Sept. 21, the Arkansas Department of Health had certified 6,084 registered patients and caregivers.

They will be able to purchase the drug, which must be grown in Arkansas, from licensed dispensaries once those businesses open.

Alex Gray, an attorney for the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association, also expects the first medical cannabis to be available early next year, estimating that the first dispensary will open by March 1.

The timetable for dispensaries to open will depend on a variety of factors specific to each group, such as whether the facility plans to grow plants and whether it builds a facility from the ground up or retrofits an existing building.

The first five cultivation companies received their growing permits in July, and two this week provided updates on their respective construction schedules.

An attorney for Bold Team of Cotton Plant said construction is "well underway" and is expected to be complete in January.

"Based upon this time frame, Bold plans to make medical cannabis available to dispensaries by the late spring or early summer of 2019," said Casey Castleberry, the company's attorney.

Don Parker, an attorney and stakeholder in Delta Medical Cannabis Co., said the group had finalized construction drawings and was in the middle of the bidding process.

"We hope to start construction within the next 60 days, weather permitting," Parker said. "We are planning to have construction completed and [be] open for business in the second quarter of 2019."

A spokesman for Natural State Medicinals Cultivation declined to comment for this article, and attempts to reach the other two groups -- Osage Creek Cultivation and Natural State Wellness Enterprises -- weren't successful.

Medical marijuana was legalized by Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution, approved by voters in November 2016.

A Section on 09/28/2018