All commissioners were present.
Joel DiPippa briefed the commissioners on the status of the MMC rules and regulations. They have been formally adopted by the State of Arkansas.
June 20th is the first day that applications will be accepted, and there will be a 90-day window from that date making the deadline is September the 18th for both dispensary and cultivation facility licenses.
Commissioners will not receive any of the applications until the application window is closed. Applications will be de-identified. Once the ABC receives the applications (in-person, not by mail), they must verify that the application meets the minimum requirements before passing along to the MMC. DiPippa said that it would probably be at least two weeks from the application deadline date until the MMC commissioners actually receive the applications for review.
Chairwoman Dr. Ronda Henry-Tillman advocated for page limitations for the applications. James Miller advocated for requiring summaries for each application schedule. Dr. Carlos Roman advocated for page limits.
The commissioners agreed that the overall page limit in Section E would be 20 pages including an application summary (executive summary). This page limit doesn’t apply to sections other than E in the MMC rules and regulations. The commissioners have agreed to read all 20 pages of the application, but they will not commit to reading the addenda. The addenda can only include supporting documentation for the application.
The conversation turned to the weight of each schedule in the application document. The commissioners will not know the city in which the dispensary or cultivation facility is located. The definition of ‘de-identified’ is not yet set according to DiPippa. Commissioners may or may not see the zip code or county for the applications. Commissioner Roman is advocating that the MMC receive at least the county in which the applicant is based. The commissioners agree that they want to at least know the county.
DiPippa suggested that the applications would be required in 12-point type and double-spaced format. The DFA will provide additional details to the commission at the next meeting including page limits from other medical marijuana states and the typical level of point breakdown in competitive state RFPs. Bonus points are awarded as a checkmark, meaning applicants will be awarded all points or none.
Cultivation Facility application weights:
- Schedule 1 – 10% – 10 points
- Qualifications of applicant
- Schedule 2 – 50% – 50 points
- Ability to operate a cultivation facility
- 2a. sub-weight not determined
- 2.b. sub-weight not determined
- 2.c. sub-weight not determined
- 2.d. sub-weight not determined
- 2.e. sub-weight not determined
- Schedule 3 – 20% – 20 points
- Operations plan
- Schedule 4 – 10% – 10 points
- Financial disclosure
- Bonus section (Schedules 5, 6, and 7) – 10% total – 10 points
- Schedule 5 – 2.5% – 2.5 points
- Affiliation with medical personnel
- Schedule 6 – 5% total – 5 points
- 6.a. – 2.5% – 2.5 points
- Economic Impact: based on zone map (in the bonus section): 25 bonus points for tier 4, 15 bonus point for tier 3, 5 points for tier 2. 0 bonus points for being in tier 1
- 6.b. – 2.5% – 2.5 points
- Diversity: women, veterans, and minority groups
- Must be 51% ownership of one of these groups to receive the points
- Points will be awarded on an all-or-nothing basis
- Diversity: women, veterans, and minority groups
- 6.a. – 2.5% – 2.5 points
- Schedule 7 – 2.5% – 2.5 points
- Community Benefit
- Schedule 5 – 2.5% – 2.5 points
Each percentage point will be worth one point on the application. There will be a total of 100 available points.
Dispensary application weights:
- Schedule 1 – 10%
- Schedule 2 – 50%
- Schedule 3 – 20%
- Schedule 4 – 10%
- Schedule 5 – Bonus – 10%
- Bonus points not awarded for pharmacist consultant which is required by law for dispensaries
The next meeting of the AMMC will be Tuesday, June 6th at 3:30 pm.
Motions Passed:
- Cultivation facility applications will be limited to 20 pages with an unlimited number of addendum. The application summary will be included in the page limit. The page limit only covers Section E.
- Cultivation facility applications will be broken down to 100 points assigned to the schedules in the breakdown above.
- Dispensary applications will be broken down to 100 points assigned to the schedules in the breakdown above.