CANNABIZ
THE COST OF CANNABIS
DISPENSARIES SHARE HOW THEY PRICE THEIR PRODUCTS AND THEIR HOPES FOR THE GROWING INDUSTRY. BY REBEKAH HALL
A
s of Jan. 17, nearly 35,000 Arkansans held medical marijuana ID cards. Arkansas’s 16 operating medical marijuana dispensaries have sold over 5,000 pounds of marijuana, totaling $33 million in sales since Suite 443, the first dispensary approved to operate, opened in Hot Springs in May 2019. However, though Arkansas’s medical marijuana industry continues to expand, cannabis prices remain a barrier for many cardholders seeking relief from their qualifying medical conditions. Dispensary owners and employees say they expect cannabis products to become more affordable as more dispensaries and cultivation facilities open, but in the meantime, some dispensaries are finding ways to make medical marijuana more accessible to low income customers. Robbin Rahman, owner of Harvest Cannabis in Conway, said product and price diversity are key to Harvest’s business. He said the dispensary strives to “create price points that are as low as we can possibly do it” in addition to offering products at more mid- to high-range costs. Harvest’s website lists “popcorn” buds, or small
buds, of the Mimosa sativa strain for $8.84 a gram; its highest online menu price for marijuana flower is $15.03 a gram for the Apple Sherbet sativa strain. “Fundamentally, I don’t think we approach this any differently than your average retailer does,” Rahman said. “Once we get it from the cultivators, a lot of the pricing is already baked in. We pay what we pay, and then we resell it to the consumer.” The sale price reflects the cost of doing business, including employee wages, facility maintenance and utilities, security and computer systems. “Street” prices for marijuana obtained illegally are often significantly lower than dispensary prices. An eighth of marijuana, which contains about 3.5 grams, can cost between $40-$50 on the “street.” The cost of marijuana purchased from a dispensary will depend on the specific strain, but after the state’s regular 6.5 percent sales tax plus a special 4 percent “privilege” tax applied only to the sale of cannabis — which goes to the National Cancer Research Institute — an eighth of a strain that costs $15 a gram would run a cardholder around $60. Holley Stuart, manager of Greenlight in Hele-
‘WE DON’T WANT TO BE COMPETING WITH PEOPLE BUYING IT ILLEGALLY.’ ARKANSASTIMES.COM
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