Would-be pot growers out $7,500 just to apply

Hopeful medical marijuana growers will have to pay the state $7,500 just to be in consideration for a cultivation license, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission decided Tuesday in Little Rock.

The five-member commission, created by the adoption of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment in November, is charged with creating the regulations required to license the cultivation facilities to grow marijuana and the dispensaries where it will be sold. The deadline for the commission to establish its licensing rules is June 2017, although the state Legislature can extend that deadline with a two-thirds vote.

Under the amendment, Arkansans with a qualifying medical condition will be able to purchase 2.5 ounces of marijuana every 14 days from dispensaries stocked from in-state cultivation facilities.

The commission voted 4-1 Tuesday to require a $15,000 fee to apply for a cultivation license — the maximum amount allowed under the amendment — with unsuccessful applicants being refunded half that amount. Commissioners also discussed an additional annual license fee for growers, but did not decide on how much that would be.

Read more: http://www.baxterbulletin.com/story/news/local/2016/12/30/would--pot-growers-out-7500-just-apply/95931222/