The coronavirus has been impacting businesses across the nation but medical marijuana businesses in the state of Arkansas should not look forward to receive any federal aid.
“Marijuana, even being medical is still recognized as illegal under federal law and all of those loans they’re issuing are coming from the federal government so according to them, we’re not eligible for those loans,” said Kyle Campbell, a manager with the ReLeaf Center dispensary in Bentonville.
“With our increase in business we’ve been very fortunate in that aspect so we aren’t really looking to get a loan like some of these other businesses around here locally.”
According to Scott Hardin with the department of finance administration, medical marijuana in Arkansas has still seen record growth, even during the pandemic.
“The way we’re looking at this, we have 22 dispensaries open right now with more than $65 million plus in less than a year, said Hardin. “It’s really feasible that next year we’re going to sales of 100 million dollars plus if not more than that. As several businesses have struggled over the last month, two months, medical marijuana has not been one of those.”
Recently a new report released by the American Civil Liberties Union has also found that marijuana possession arrests have increased by almost 50% since 2010 in the state.
The report also says that black people in the state are “2.4 times more likely than white people to be arrested, despite comparable national marijuana usage rates.”
The report, entitled, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” says that Arkansas had the sixth largest increase in marijuana in the nation.
“With our mass incarceration crisis on the brink of becoming a public health crisis due to COVID-19, this report is a reminder of how racially-biased policies are putting the health and well-being of our communities at risk,” said Holly Dickson, legal director and interim executive director at the ACLU of Arkansas.
