Attorneys Josh Hurst (left), Q. Byrum Hurst (right) and their client Dragan Vicentic (second from right) leave the Garland County Courthouse after a hearing on Wednesday, June 19, 2024. A circuit judge will decide whether to grant Vicentic’s request for his medical marijuana dispensary to remain open after his license was revoked. (Tess Vrbin/Arkansas Advocate)
A Garland County Circuit Court judge will rule this week on whether a Hot Springs medical marijuana dispensary can remain operational after having its license revoked.
The board of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Division voted a week ago to uphold Director Christy Bjornson’s May 2 decision to revoke Green Springs Medical Marijuana Dispensary’s license in light of several violations of rules for medical marijuana handling and sales.
Green Springs is the first and only dispensary to have its license revoked since the state’s medical marijuana industry launched in 2019.
Owner Dragan Vicentic appealed the board’s decision, and Circuit Court Judge Kara Petro is tasked with deciding whether to grant his request for a stay on the decision.
Between May 2 and the June 12 ABC board hearing, Green Springs sold products that had expired a year after their testing date, according to Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration documents presented at Wednesday’s hearing. Medical marijuana products lose potency after their expiration date, and the continued sale of expired products was among the violations that led to the license revocation.
Additionally, the dispensary’s processing area was “unsanitary,” a required “comprehensive inventory” had not been completed, some products were unlabeled and some of the marijuana in the inventory system was unaccounted for in the store, according to finance department documents detailing the violations.
Bjornson argued to the ABC board last week that the violations risked clients’ health.
Josh Hurst, one of the attorneys representing Vicentic, asked ABC’s two witnesses Wednesday if they were aware of any patients that had been harmed by Green Springs’ products.
Glen Perciful and Jonathan Vince, both ABC employees, replied that they could not verify any harm to patients through the scope of their jobs.
Dr. Jonathan Wolfe, Green Springs’ consultant pharmacist, said he was not concerned about any risks to patients’ safety regarding the dispensary’s products.
Patient safety was not the issue at hand in the hearing, ABC senior staff attorney Chip Liebovich argued. The issue at hand was whether the dispensary broke the state’s rules for the medical marijuana industry and whether the ABC board’s decision should stand, he said.
Petro said she had “a lot of concerns about the testimony” and would take it under advisement before issuing a decision this week.
Arkansas voters approved Amendment 98 to the state Constitution in 2016, legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. The state has 37 dispensaries besides Green Springs, which was the second to open in 2019 upon being licensed; Suite 443, also in Hot Springs, was the first.
The ABC board’s June 12 decision started a 30-day clock for Vicentic to sell or dispose of the cannabis at the dispensary, and ABC agents will be able to seize any remaining products after the deadline.
Before last week’s ABC hearing, Vicentic had informed the state Medical Marijuana Commission that he plans to sell the license and dispensary. He said Wednesday that he will leave the medical marijuana industry entirely if Petro blocks the ABC ruling and the sale is completed.
The post Judge will decide whether to allow Hot Springs medical marijuana dispensary to remain open appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.