Medical cannabis sales in Arkansas are on pace this year to top their 2021 totals, reaching $205 million so far this year, the Fort Smith Times Record reports. In 2021, medical cannabis sales totaled $264.9 million, Scott Hardin, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Finance Administration, said.
“By the end of December, our overall sales for 2022 should certainly be above the $264.9 million sold in 2021. … The reason sales were so low in 2019 was the number of dispensaries in operation. There were only a few dispensaries open for an extended period in 2019.” — Hardin to the Times Record
Medical cannabis sales in Arkansas were $31 million in 2019 and $182 million in 2020. In all, there are 38 active dispensaries throughout the state
The state generated $2.9 million from medical cannabis taxes in 2019, $21.2 million in 2020, $33.1 million in 2021, and $23.9 million through the first nine months of this year. In all, that is $81 million generated in state tax revenue since mid-2019. Of that, $62 million was directed to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in an effort to win a designation as a National Cancer Institute, Hardin said in the report.
Arkansas voters will decide next month on whether to legalize cannabis for adult use. The ballot question was nearly tossed by Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston who had declared the measure “insufficient” to appear before voters after the State Board of Election Commissioners failed to certify the question’s popular name and ballot title.
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