The growing season for medical marijuana in Arkansas is proving to be a long one.
State voters approved a medical marijuana amendment in November 2016, but nary a license to grow or sell the drug has been issued. Nor will any be issued anytime soon.
Finally, however, some critical issues surrounding what became Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution may get resolved.
The state Supreme Court this week will hear oral arguments in a lawsuit that effectively shut down implementation of the amendment.
It's an important turning point, with a decision possible by the end of the month, if the court renders its decision before its annual summer break.
For the record, voters approved what was presented as Issue 6 with more than 53 percent of the 2016 general election vote. It was a detailed proposal that set out implementation requirements but also allowed the state Legislature to alter all but a couple of elements.
Lawmakers were specifically prevented from changing provisions actually legalizing the medical use of marijuana and setting the number of allowable dispensaries and cultivation facilities.
Sure enough, when the 2017 regular session of the Legislature rolled around, lawmakers did their best to meddle in the process, considering more than 50 bills related to medical marijuana.
Some bills addressed legitimate issues. Others didn't. Some passed. Some didn't.
The session eventually ended and the stage was set for implementation, with responsibility for deciding who would get licenses to grow and to dispense medical marijuana left to a new Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.
What has happened since is at the heart of the litigation that has made its way to the state Supreme Court.
Applicants showed up by the hundreds to get one of five licenses to cultivate this newly legalized drug or one of 32 licenses for distribution of the drug.
The distribution licensing process is stalled, too, but the court case is about the cultivation facility licenses.
Applicants first jumped through hoops for the state Department of Finance and Administration, which reviewed the applications and collected required fees, then supposedly redacted identifying details about the applicants and sent qualifying applications on to the marijuana commission.
That part of the process began in September last year and went on until the licensees for cultivation facilities were announced in late February this year.
Obviously, there were going to be winners and losers in what was a high-stakes bid for part of a new industry in Arkansas.
Less than a month out from the decision, some of those who lost out in the application process filed suit challenging the scoring system the marijuana commission used to decide which applicants would get the five coveted cultivation facility licenses.
On March 21, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffin issued a preliminary injunction preventing the award of the five licenses.
He had found the ranking process unconstitutional in part because redactions didn't completely mask applicants' identity from marijuana commission members with possible conflicts of interest.
The individuals who were to get those first five awards still want them, of course, and the state wants to get the process moving again. That's why Griffin's decision is under appeal now to the Arkansas Supreme Court.
A number of complicated issues are being argued in this lawsuit. The ultimate conclusions of the court could have major ramifications not just on medical marijuana but other matters as well.
It is definitely a case to watch.
Access to medical marijuana in Arkansas hangs in the balance as do high-dollar business interests in a fledgling industry.
For those who are interested, Thursday's 10 a.m. oral arguments in the case -- CV-18-356, Arkansas Department of Finance & Administration et al. v. Naturalis Health, LLC, et al. -- will be streamed live. Visit the Arkansas Supreme Court online at https://courts.arkansas.gov/courts/supreme-court/oral-argument-videos to access the video.
Commentary on 06/06/2018