Medical Marijuana Dispensary To Receive License

A local applicant is expected to receive a license for a medical marijuana dispensary and plans to open in April.

Fiddler’s Green, owned by Stone County resident Lisa Murphy and her son, Kent Thomas, was ranked first by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission among applicants in Zone 2.

Murphy said it has been confirmed that the top four applicants in each zone will receive a license, and notifications are expected to arrive within the next week.

“The enthusiasm is amazing,” Murphy said. “We are hoping to open our doors by April.”

Zone 2 includes Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Fulton, Izard, Marion, Newton, Searcy, Stone and Van Buren counties. Other top-ranked applicants in Zone 2 are in Heber Springs, Clinton, and Mountain Home.

There will be a total of 32 dispensaries licensed statewide and five cultivators, located in Jefferson, Jackson, Woodruff, and Carroll counties.

Licenses for the growers already been granted, and at least one company already has seeds in the ground, Murphy said. They are expected to have products available by April.

Fiddler’s Green will be located nine miles outside Mountain View on Highway 9 South, in the former Callahan’s store building.

The company will eventually have its own brand and will offer all available forms of medical cannabis, including tinctures and edible items. This includes forms that are suitable for use by children suffering from cancer, epilepsy, or other conditions.

“Our goal is just to be able to have a strain for every illness that it’s recommended for,” Murphy said.

The dispensary plans to offer a delivery service and also hopes to have a doctor on site every few months.

“Our long-term goal is just to change Arkansas to where people are using natural remedies for healing when it’s possible,” Murphy said.

For more information about medical marijuana in Arkansas, including the list of qualifying conditions, visit the Arkansas Department of Health at healthy.arkansas.gov, and look under the “A-Z Topics” tab for Medical Marijuana FAQ’s.

From the Jan. 16, 2019 issue.