CANNABIZ
MARIJUANA MILLIONS STATE BENEFITS BY $13 MILLION, PLUS MORE NEWS ON THE POT RX FRONT. BY GRIFFIN COOP PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN CHILSON ‘WANTS MORE PRODUCT’: Dragan Vincentic backed the expansion of cultivator licenses.
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ince the state’s first dispensary opened about 16 months ago, Arkansas patients have purchased more than $131 million worth of medical marijuana. These sales have generated more than $13 million in state tax revenue, contributing to the state’s goal of achieving a coveted cancer institute designation for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. There are 80,000 medical marijuana patients in Arkansas and the number continues to grow. An increase in patients is expected to push associated state revenues higher. As of Sept. 11, patients have purchased more than 22,000 pounds of medical marijuana. “As of now, that number [of patients] continues to grow consistently, month by month,” state Medical Marijuana Commission spokesman Scott Hardin said in September. “At this point, there is no indication that that is slowing down anytime soon. We are close to 80,000 today, it certainly looks like 100,000 is going to be here before we know it.” With each medical marijuana purchase, patients pay a pair of state taxes: the state sales tax of 6.5 percent and a privilege tax of 4 percent. Purchasers also pay all applicable local taxes, such as city and county sales taxes. 50 OCTOBER 2020
ARKANSAS TIMES
The state sales tax of 6.5 percent, which voters approved as part of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment in 2016, has generated $8.25 million since May 2019. That revenue is divided among the three state agencies that manage the state’s medical marijuana program: The Medical Marijuana Commission, which handles licensing; Alcoholic Beverage Control, which regulates the medical marijuana industry; and the state Department of Health, which issues patient cards. The privilege tax of 4 percent, passed by the state legislature in 2017, has generated $7.7 million. In addition to the patients who pay the sales and privilege taxes, dispensaries also pay the 4 percent privilege tax when they purchase products from cultivators. Of the $7.7 million brought in by the privilege tax, $5 million is from patient purchases and $2.7 million is from dispensary purchases from cultivators. Dispensaries do not pay the 6.5 percent sales tax. Revenue from the privilege tax goes to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to create the state’s first National Cancer Institute. Originally set to expire in July 2019, the tax has been extended to 2021.
According to the National Cancer Institute, NCI-designated cancer centers are “recognized for their scientific leadership in laboratory and clinical research” and “dedicate significant resources toward developing research programs, faculty and facilities that will lead to better and innovative approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.” *** Six of the state’s 29 medical marijuana dispensaries are getting into the delivery business, and several more say they hope to offer the service in the future. Dispensaries around the state have offered the service intermittently, but more are offering it as a regular service as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, commission spokesman Hardin said. “Some consistently offer delivery and some offer it for a few weeks or months and then pull it back, only to launch it again,” Hardin said. “That number [offering delivery] increased throughout the pandemic, which was understandable.” The dispensaries offering delivery are Greenlight Dispensary of Helena-West Helena, Fiddler’s Green in Mountain View, the ReLeaf Center in Bentonville, Purspirit Cannabis Co. in
