Scorching Springs medical marijuana dispensary gained’t get revoked license again, choose orders

A Scorching Springs medical marijuana dispensary should promote or get rid of its merchandise by July 11 after a choose denied the proprietor’s request to dam the revocation of his license Thursday.

The board of the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Management Division voted June 12 to uphold Director Christy Bjornson’s May 2 decision to revoke Inexperienced Springs Medical Marijuana Dispensary’s license in mild of a number of violations of the principles for medical marijuana dealing with and gross sales.

Inexperienced Springs is the primary and solely dispensary to have its license revoked because the state’s medical marijuana business launched in 2019.

Proprietor Dragan Vicentic appealed the board’s resolution, and Circuit Court docket Decide Kara Petro on Thursday denied his request for a stay on the decision.

Between Might 2 and the June 12 ABC board listening to, Inexperienced Springs bought 203.28 grams of medical marijuana merchandise that had expired a 12 months after their high quality assurance testing dates, based on Arkansas Division of Finance and Administration paperwork introduced at Wednesday’s listening to. Medical marijuana merchandise lose efficiency after their expiration date, and the continuing sale of expired merchandise was among the many violations that led to the license revocation.

Vicentic and his attorneys “offered no proof to rebut that the merchandise had expired QA assessments and have been bought anyway,” Petro wrote in her resolution.

Moreover, the dispensary’s processing space was “unsanitary,” a required “complete stock” had not been accomplished, some merchandise have been unlabeled and a few of the marijuana within the stock system was unaccounted for within the retailer, based on finance division paperwork detailing the violations.

Bjornson argued to the ABC board final week that the violations risked shoppers’ well being. Josh Hurst, one of many attorneys representing Vicentic, requested ABC’s two witnesses Wednesday in the event that they have been conscious of any sufferers that had been harmed by Inexperienced Springs’ merchandise.

Glen Perciful and Jonathan Vince, each ABC staff, replied that they may not confirm any hurt to sufferers by way of the scope of their jobs.

Dr. Jonathan Wolfe, Inexperienced Springs’ marketing consultant pharmacist, stated he was not involved about any dangers to sufferers’ security concerning the dispensary’s merchandise.

Affected person security was not the difficulty at hand within the listening to, ABC senior employees legal professional Chip Liebovich argued. The difficulty at hand was whether or not the dispensary broke the state’s guidelines for the medical marijuana business and whether or not the ABC board’s resolution ought to stand, he stated.

ABC ordered Vicentic in August to not proceed promoting a listing of expired merchandise that enforcement brokers discovered on the dispensary, however he admitted at one other inspection in January that he was nonetheless promoting expired merchandise, based on ABC board paperwork.

“The proof offered to the court docket is that the appellant has willfully dedicated violations and has continued to take action regardless of sanctions,” Petro wrote. “There was substantial proof of failure to adjust to a legitimate directive of the ABC Fee and noncompliance with ABC brokers and this noncompliance has continued to at the present time.”

She argued that “the general public has an curiosity in high quality assurance” that merited a denial of Vicentic’s request to maintain the dispensary open.

The ABC board’s resolution began a 30-day clock for Vicentic to promote or get rid of the hashish on the dispensary, and ABC brokers will be capable of seize any remaining merchandise after the deadline.

Earlier than final week’s ABC listening to, Vicentic had knowledgeable the state Medical Marijuana Fee that he plans to promote the license and dispensary. He stated Wednesday that he deliberate to depart the medical marijuana business completely if he accomplished the $3 million sale, he stated in response to questions from Liebovich.

The Medical Marijuana Fee will meet Tuesday to debate its subsequent steps in mild of Inexperienced Springs’ license revocation and Vicentic’s attraction.

Arkansas voters legalized medical marijuana by approving Modification 98 to the state Structure in 2016. Inexperienced Springs was the second dispensary to open in 2019 upon being licensed; Suite 443, additionally in Scorching Springs, was the primary.

Modification 98 permits the fee to difficulty 40 dispensary licenses, however solely 37 are energetic since one has been revoked and the remaining two have been delayed by a lawsuit.

Absolute Essence, a Black-owned Little Rock firm that utilized for a license, sued the fee, the finance division and ABC in January 2022, alleging racial discrimination within the license software course of. Pulaski County Circuit Decide Alice Grey issued an injunction the next month, blocking the fee from issuing new licenses till the case is resolved.

Arkansas Advocate is a part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit information community supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Observe Arkansas Advocate on Facebook and X.

The publish Hot Springs medical marijuana dispensary won’t get revoked license back, judge orders appeared first on Arkansas Times.