{"id":76277,"date":"2024-06-13T09:58:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T17:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/13\/arkansas-medical-marijuana-regulators-uphold-states-first-revocation-of-a-dispensary-license\/"},"modified":"2024-06-13T12:45:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T20:45:34","slug":"arkansas-medical-marijuana-regulators-uphold-states-first-revocation-of-a-dispensary-license","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/06\/13\/arkansas-medical-marijuana-regulators-uphold-states-first-revocation-of-a-dispensary-license\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas Medical Marijuana Regulators Uphold State\u2019s First Revocation Of A Dispensary License"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe awarded him this license, and at this point he\u2019s laughing in our faces because he doesn\u2019t care about the regulations of it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Tess Vrbin, Arkansas Advocate<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Hot Springs medical marijuana dispensary became the first in Arkansas to have its license revoked after a nearly five-hour hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The board of the state\u2019s Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Division voted to uphold Director Christy Bjornson\u2019s May 2 decision to revoke Green Springs Medical Marijuana Dispensary\u2019s license<\/a> in light of several violations of the rules for medical marijuana handling and sales.<\/p>\n

Green Springs owner Dragan Vicentic appealed Bjornson\u2019s decision to the ABC board, allowing his business to remain operational before the hearing. He said Wednesday that he plans to appeal the board\u2019s decision to a circuit court judge.<\/p>\n

Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2016 to legalize 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.<\/p>\n

ABC enforcement agents found that Green Springs sold 1,882 expired products, Bjornson said. Medical marijuana products expire a year after their testing date and lose potency from then on.<\/p>\n

Bjornson argued that this would negatively impact the health of the dispensary\u2019s clients.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt best case, they\u2019re getting ripped off. At worst case, something\u2019s going to happen where they\u2019re at risk of harm,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2026They cannot verify that they are keeping up with their treatment plan the way that they\u2019ve been instructed to do by a medical professional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bjornson\u2019s decision came after an April ABC board hearing substantiated several charges of violations against Green Springs, according to the board order. In addition to the sale of expired products, the dispensary\u2019s processing area was \u201cunsanitary,\u201d a required \u201ccomprehensive inventory\u201d had not been completed, some products were unlabeled and some of the marijuana in the inventory system was unaccounted for in the store.<\/p>\n

Vicentic said Wednesday that the inventory issues were a result of \u201chuman error\u201d and that the processing area is rarely used.<\/p>\n

ABC enforcement agents Haley Allen, Austin Hodges, Kanoesha Wilson and Blake Miller all testified to the board about the range of findings, mostly resulting from 2023 inspections of the facility.<\/p>\n

Miller said he made two undercover purchases at the dispensary last year, yielding an unlabeled bottle of bud and an expired marijuana cartridge.<\/p>\n

Green Springs serves more than 20,000 clients throughout Central and Southwest Arkansas. Some clients posted on social media last year that they bought two-year-old products at the dispensary, according to the board order.<\/p>\n

\u2018Blatant disregard\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

After an August inspection, Allen said, she gave Vicentic a list of the expired products she had found at the dispensary and said he was no longer allowed to sell them.<\/p>\n

Vicentic signed the document at the time, but on Wednesday he claimed the list was illegible and he could not read it.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s order states that after a January inspection, Vicentic admitted to selling over 500 expired items.<\/p>\n

He said at the hearing that many of the items in question were within days of expiration but not yet there, so he reduced the prices in order to sell them more quickly. He claimed the discrepancy between what he believed to be the expiration dates and what ABC agents found was due to errors in the state\u2019s medical marijuana tracking system.<\/p>\n

Bjornson said Vicentic\u2019s testimony was proof that \u201che will lie to your face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe awarded him this license, and at this point he\u2019s laughing in our faces because he doesn\u2019t care about the regulations of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Chip Leibovich, ABC\u2019s senior staff attorney, also chided Vicentic for \u201cblatant disregard\u201d of enforcement agents\u2019 orders, which he called \u201cthe biggest violation\u201d at hand.<\/p>\n

Attorneys from the Hurst Law Group of Hot Springs represented Vicentic. One of them, Justin Hurst, asked Allen if she was aware of any endangerment to Green Springs clients as a result of her inspections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had a recall and something was wrong [with a product], we wouldn\u2019t be able to track down what patient that affected,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

Board member Jamie Anderson asked if ABC agents are only tasked with bringing up issues with medical marijuana products if someone has been harmed by them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely want to be proactive and make sure nobody is harmed,\u201d Allen said.<\/p>\n

The ABC board has held eight hearings over medical marijuana violations in the past five years, and four have been about Vicentic and Green Springs, Leibovich said.<\/p>\n

According to DFA, Green Springs\u2019s past violations include:<\/p>\n