More than 40,000 pounds of medical marijuana have been sold in Arkansas since the first dispensary opened in May 2019, according to the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission (AMMC). A dispensary in Bentonville has sold the most medical marijuana.

The 42,769 pounds sold is valued at $285 million, according to a press release from Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the parent agency of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission. State taxes on the dispensary sales since May 2019 total just under $30 million. Most of the tax revenue is placed in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences National Cancer Designation Trust Fund.

Arkansans spent $181 million on more than 28,000 pounds of medical marijuana in 2020, the first full year of legal cannabis sales in the state, according to data from the state Department of Finance & Administration.

But the medical marijuana phenomenon is not spread evenly across the state. As of Dec. 31 — a record day for marijuana sales — 31 dispensaries were open in 23 of the state’s 75 counties. Fourteen of them had opened in 2019 and reported full-year sales of between 400 and 3,000 pounds of the plant. The 32nd dispensary opened in Hardy on Jan. 7 of this year.

Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas have hit a significant milestone a little more than a year after the first dispensaries in the state began serving customers.

Local news outlets in the Natural State reported that medical cannabis sales in Arkansas have officially eclipsed $200 million, with patients purchasing more than 15 tons of product. 

The medical marijuana industry in Arkansas is booming, according to reports.

Medical marijuana sales in Arkansas have hit a significant milestone a little more than a year after the first dispensaries in the state began serving customers.

Local news outlets in the Natural State reported that medical cannabis sales in Arkansas have officially eclipsed $200 million, with patients purchasing more than 15 tons of product. 

The exact figures, according to local television stations KATV and 5NEWS: $200.7 million and 30,648 pounds of medical marijuana.

In the 18 months since Arkansas’ first medical marijuana dispensary opened in May 2019, overall sales have surpassed 28,000 pounds. In total, Arkansans have spent $187 million to obtain 28,674 pounds of medical marijuana.

At this rate, officials with the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission anticipate sales will reach 30,000 pounds by late December.

Locally, since Plant Family Therapeutics of Mountain Home opened in February, the company has sold 1,303 pounds of medical marijuana.

In Mountain View, since Fiddler’s Green opened in July 2019, the company has sold 1,581 pounds of medical marijuana.

Arkansas medical marijuana dispensaries are experiencing a shortage of the flower form of the product and a spokesman for Alcoholic Beverage Control said the agency is looking into the supply issue.

The number of medical marijuana patients in the state has surged past 80,000. The state has only four cultivators in operation, and dispensaries report having trouble getting some strains entirely. The supply of other products, such as tinctures, vape cartridges and edibles, is sufficient, dispensary owners say. 

The Arkansas Department of Health’s website reports that there are 83,779 active medical marijuana cards in the state, but dispensaries and patients are seeing an unprecedented amount of shortages.

“We had to raise our prices because we had just too many people coming through the shop,” Owner of Green Springs Medical marijuana dispensary in Hot Springs, Dragan Vicentic, said. He said he’s seen the shortage at his dispensary since June. They have a list of 75 different strands of marijuana and he was out a dozen this week. He said the shortage is growing each week and it’s impacting patient’s health.

“It’s more expensive, they’re having to go back to the streets possibly to get it from the people on the black market which is a terrible idea,” Vicentic said.

Arkansans spent $154 million on 24,067 pounds of medical marijuana since the first dispensary opened in May 2019. This is according to Scott Hardin, who is a spokesperson with the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.

In Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley specifically, 8,416 pounds of medical marijuana were sold since August 2019.

There are currently 29 dispensaries in Arkansas, and the state expects to open eight more.

83,779 Arkansans have a patient card for medical marijuana. Starting on September 30th, expired patient cards must be renewed to make new purchases.

A trip to the doctor's office for card renewal is not required. Patients can do a Telehealth appointment with a doctor to confirm their conditions and to receive a patient card.

Medical marijuana sales from Aug. 21 through Wednesday ticked up compared to the last reporting period, according to the sales report the state revenue agency released Friday.

Daily sales during the 20-day period that ended Wednesday were $600,000 on average. The daily sales average during the 16-day reporting period that ended Aug. 20 was $592,000. The Department of Finance and Administration said the 29 dispensaries in operation during the most recent reporting period averaged $20,698 in daily sales.