Here’s a brief recap of legislation in Arkansas affecting the medical marijuana industry:
The deadline for filing new bills has already passed. The deadline for amending shell bills has passed. The legislative session is tentatively scheduled to end on March 31st, but several committee chairpersons will have their last committee meetings next week. Bills with bold text are considered very important.
- HB1049 (felony offense definition) passed both houses, waiting to be signed by the Governor
- HB1051 (licenses for processors, transporters, and distributors) passed both houses, waiting to be signed by the Governor
- HB1057 (caregiver background checks) passed both houses, waiting to be signed by the Governor
- HB1298 (license transfer) passed both houses, waiting to be signed by the Governor
- HB1369 (creates a MMJ implementation fund with sales tax proceeds) passed both houses but amended in the Senate, passed the House committee again, back to a full House vote
- HB1370 (marketing limitations and packaging requirements) passed both houses, waiting to be signed by the Governor
- HB1392 (edible ban) failed in a full House vote
- HB1400 (prohibits MMJ smoking where cigarette smoking is banned) passed the House, sitting in the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor
- HB1436 (MMJ card expiration date clarification) passed both houses and is waiting on the Governor’s signature
- HB1451 (military MMJ ban) signed by the Governor, now law
- HB1460 (employee/employer relationship for an employee who is a qualifying patient) passed both houses and is waiting on the Governor’s signature
- HB1507 (allows the ABC/MMC to impose fines) passed both houses and is waiting on the Governor’s signature
- HB1519 (MMC resides under the DFA) passed both houses and is waiting on the Governor’s signature
- HB1584 (temporary cultivation facility and dispensary licenses) passed both houses and is waiting on the Governor’s signature
- HB1990 (bans dispensaries from growing MMJ) sitting in the House Committee on House Rules
- HB1991 (advertising ban) sitting in the House Committee on House Rules
- HB1989 (smoking MMJ around a minor is child abuse) sitting in House Committee on House Rules
- HB2011 (cultivation facility security requirements) sitting in House Committee on House Rules
- HB2094 (allows seed and clone importing) sitting in House Committee on House Rules
- HB2142 (extracts shell bill) filed
- HB2143 (vending machine ban) filed
- HB2144 (state physician certification requirement) filed
- HB2166 (bans dispensary growing, low-THC MMJ) sitting in House Committee
- HB2167 (shell bill) sitting in House committee
- HB2190 (dispensary to merit application, pharmacist director required) sitting in the House Committee on House Rules
- HB2246 (synthetic marijuana shell bill) filed
- HB2239 (implementation funding) sitting in the House Committee on House Rules
- HB2222 (cultivation security requirements) sitting in the House Committee on House Rules
- SB254 (dispensary grow ban) failed for the third time in a full Senate vote, but the vote was expunged
- SB357 (smoking ban) failed in a full Senate vote twice – the last time the vote was not expunged, considered dead
- SB674 (shell bill) sitting in Senate committee
- SB690 (shell bill) sitting in Senate committee
- SB696 (shell bill) sitting in Senate committee
- SB721 (dispensary to merit application, pharmacist director required) sitting in Senate committee
- SB722 (shell bill) sitting in Senate committee
- SB769 (patient database) sitting in Senate committee