Medical marijuana patients spending almost $900K a day

According to the state Treasury’s report released earlier this week, the average daily medical marijuana sales for the 31-day reporting period ended Sunday was nearly $ 900,000.

The 32 pharmacies that were open as of Sunday reported sales of $ 27 million at £ 3,730. Average daily sales during the 31 days were nearly 30% higher than the 23-day reporting period that ended March 11th.

Patients have purchased more than 40,000 pounds of marijuana since the drug was first legally sold by the state in May 2019. The Tax Procedure Act prohibits the state from publishing sales figures for individual pharmacies. Overall, they reported $ 285 million in sales as of Sunday, averaging $ 16 per gram.

Suite 443, one of two licensed pharmacies in Garland County, ranked third in sales for the 31 days ended Sunday, reporting sales of £ 276.68. The Malvern Avenue location was ranked third for the second straight reporting period and the top 5 for the seventh straight reporting period.

Green Springs Medical, the only licensed pharmacy in the Hot Springs city limits, ranked 10th and reported £ 167.71 in sales for the period ended Sunday. The Seneca Street location was ranked 11th or 12th in the last five sales reports.

The ReLeaf Center’s reported sales of £ 373.38 led all pharmacies. The Bentonville site has topped nine of the last ten sales reports and holds the overall sales lead. More than £ 4,600 has been sold since it opened in August 2019.

Natural Relief was second in sales for the third reporting period in a row. The Sherwood site reported sales of £ 318.59. Plant Family Therapeutics in Mountain Home came fourth with sales of £ 250.45.

The Ministry of Finance and Administration announced that six more pharmacies are currently opening. The Medical Marijuana Commission has issued 38 of the 40 dispenser licenses approved by voters for the state constitutional amendment passed in 2016. The amendment approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

According to statistics from the Arkansas Department of Health, the number of active patient cards increased by more than 3,500 from March 20 through Saturday. More than 74,000 Arcansan had active cards on Saturday.

Doctors can no longer use telemedicine to certify conditions suitable for medical marijuana use. The March 31 Executive Order, which extended the state’s public health emergency to May 30, did not extend the ordinance issued in April last year that allowed state agencies to suspend any law or regulation that they may have prevent them from providing services during the emergency.

The health department had invoked the order to enable doctors to use telemedicine to certify qualification requirements. As of April 1st, a written medical certificate requires a personal assessment. The change from medical marijuana conditioned the issuance of a written certificate of a doctor’s assessment of the patient’s medical history and current condition.

The doctor must certify that “the qualified patient has a qualified disease and the potential benefits of medicinal marijuana use are likely to outweigh the health risks for the qualified patient,” according to the amendment.