Arkansas's newly appointed medical marijuana commissioners are slated to hold their first meeting Monday at 2:00 p.m. The five-member commission was appointed last week to help facilitate the licensing and regulation of dispensaries and cultivation centers as outlined by the voter-approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.
Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) appointed Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman to the commission. House Speaker Jeremy Gillam (R-Judsonia) appointed Dr. Stephen J. Carroll, PharmD and attorney Travis Story. Senate President Jonathan Dismang (R-Beebe) appointed a former state Senate chief of staff and current railroad lobbyist James Miller and Dr. J Carlos Roman, M.D.
KUAR covered the appointments at the Governor's Conference Room last week and talked to the attorney behind the successful ballot measure legalizing medical marijuana. The commissioner's pocked $85 for every meeting though at least one state representative, Republican Doug House of North Little Rock, has suggested paying each commissioner $30,000 a year.
The medical marijuana amendment calls for the state to license between four to eight cultivation centers and 20 to 40 dispensaries. The commission has a June deadline to meet minimum licensing and regulatory obligations but there has been talk that could be pushed back to July.
The commission is one part of a larger regulatory framework that includes the Arkansas Department of Health, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, and the Department of Finance and Administration.
The commission meets at the Alcoholic Beverage Control Conference Room at 1515 West Seventh Street in Little Rock on Monday.
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