Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 006 - Department of Finance and Administration › Division 02 - Alcoholic Beverage Control Division › Rule 006.02.17-001 - Rules and Regulations Governing the Oversight of Medical Marijuana Cultivation Facilities and Dispensaries by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
SECTION 1.
AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD
These rules and regulations governing the oversight of medical
				marijuana cultivation facilities and dispensaries in Arkansas are duly adopted
				and promulgated by the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Board pursuant to
				Amendment No. 98 of the Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874, The
				Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016.
SECTION 2.
SCOPE
These rules and regulations govern the oversight of medical
				marijuana cultivation facilities and dispensaries in Arkansas. These rules
				govern the requirements for record keeping, security, and personnel at
				cultivation facilities and dispensaries. These rules govern the requirements
				for the manufacturing, processing, packaging, dispensing, disposing,
				advertising, and marketing of medical marijuana by cultivation facilities and
				dispensaries. These rules govern the procedures for inspecting and
				investigating cultivation facilities and dispensaries. These rules govern the
				procedures for sanctioning, suspending, and terminating cultivation facility
				and dispensary licenses for violations of the amendment or these rules.
SECTION 3.
DEFINITIONS
(1) "Acquire" or
			 "Acquisition" means coming to possess marijuana by means of any legal source
			 herein authorized, not from an unauthorized source, and in accordance with the
			 Amendment and any rules promulgated under the Amendment.
(2) "Amendment" means the Arkansas Medical
			 Marijuana Act of 2016.
(3)
			 "Approved Laboratory" means a laboratory that is accredited by the National
			 Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Environmental Laboratory
			 Accreditation Conference (NELAC), and the International Organization for
			 Standardization (ISO) or similar accrediting entity as determined by the
			 Department, and that has been approved by the Department specifically for the
			 testing of usable marijuana.
(4)
			 "Batch" means, with regard to usable marijuana, a homogenous, identified
			 quantity of usable marijuana, no greater than five (5) pounds, that is
			 harvested during a specified time period from a specified cultivation area, and
			 with regard to oils, vapors, and waxes derived from usable marijuana, means an
			 identified quantity that is uniform, that is intended to meet specifications
			 for identity, strength, and composition, and that is manufactured, packaged and
			 labeled during a specified time period according to a single manufacturing,
			 packaging and labeling protocol.
(5) "Biannual" means every six (6)
			 months.
(6) "Cannabinoid" means any
			 of the chemical compounds that are the active constituents of
			 marijuana.
(7) "Cannabinoid
			 concentrate" means a substance obtained by separating cannabinoids from
			 marijuana by:
a. A mechanical extraction
			 process;
b. A chemical extraction
			 process using a nonhydrocarbon-based or other solvent, such as water, vegetable
			 glycerin, vegetable oils, animal fats, isopropyl alcohol or ethanol;
			 or
c. A chemical extraction process
			 using the hydrocarbon-based solvent carbon dioxide, provided that the process
			 does not involve the use of high heat or pressure.
(8) "Cannabinoid edible" means food or
			 potable liquid into which a cannabinoid concentrate, cannabinoid extract, or
			 dried marijuana leaves or flowers have been incorporated.
(9) "Cannabinoid extract" means a substance
			 obtained by separating cannabinoids from marijuana by:
a. A chemical extraction process using a
			 hydrocarbon-based solvent, such as butane, hexane, or propane;
b. A chemical extraction process using the
			 hydrocarbon-based solvent, carbon dioxide, if the process uses high heat or
			 pressure; or
c. Any other processes
			 identified by the Division.
(10) "Cardholder" means a qualifying patient,
			 a dispensary agent, a cultivation facility agent, or a designated
			 caregiver;
(11) "Commission" means
			 the Medical Marijuana Commission.
(12) "Cultivation facility" means an entity
			 that:
a. Has been licensed by the Medical
			 Marijuana Commission; and
b.
			 Cultivates, prepares, manufactures, processes, packages, sells to and delivers
			 usable marijuana to a dispensary.
(13) "Cultivation Facility Agent" means an
			 employee, supervisor, or agent of a cultivation facility who:
a. Is twenty-one (21) years of age or
			 older;
b. Works at the cultivation
			 facility; and
c. Has registered
			 with the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.
(14) "Department" means the Arkansas
			 Department of Health.
(15)
			 "Deliver" means to move medical marijuana product between a licensed dispensary
			 and a qualified patient or designated caregiver.
(16) "Designated caregiver" means:
a. A person who is at least twenty-one (21)
			 years of age, has not been convicted of an excluded felony offense, has agreed
			 to assist a physically disabled qualifying patient with the medical use of
			 marijuana, and who has registered with the Department of Health pursuant to the
			 requirements of the Amendment and these Rules.
b. Designated caregiver includes, without
			 limitation, a parent:
i. Of a qualifying
			 patient who is under the age of eighteen (18); and
ii. Required to register as a designated
			 caregiver under the Amendment.
(17) "Dispensary" means an entity that has
			 been licensed by the Medical Marijuana Commission pursuant to the requirements
			 of the Amendment.
(18) "Dispensary
			 agent" means:
a. An employee, supervisor,
			 volunteer, or agent of a dispensary who:
i. Is
			 twenty-one (21) years of age or older;
ii. Works at the dispensary; and
iii. Has registered with the Alcoholic
			 Beverage Control Division.
b. An owner, officer, or board member of a
			 dispensary who has registered with the Division pursuant to the requirements of
			 the Amendment.
(19)
			 "Division" means the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division.
(20) "Enclosed, locked facility" means a
			 room, greenhouse, or other enclosed area equipped with locks or other security
			 devices that permit access only by an authorized individual;
(21) "Excluded felony offense" means:
(a)
(i)
(a) A felony offense as determined by the
			 jurisdiction where the felony offense occurred.
(b) The Medical Marijuana Commission, the
			 Department of Health, or the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division shall
			 determine whether an offense is a felony offense based upon a review of the
			 relevant court records concerning the conviction for the offense.
ii. An offense that has been
			 sealed by a court or for which a pardon has been granted is not considered an
			 excluded felony offense; or
(b) A violation of state or federal
			 controlled-substance law that was classified as a felony in the jurisdiction
			 where the person was convicted, but not including:
i. An offense for which the sentence,
			 including any term of probation, incarceration, or supervised release, was
			 completed ten (10) or more years earlier; or
ii. An offense that has been sealed by a
			 court or for which a pardon has been granted.
(22) "Flowering" means the reproductive state
			 of
Cannabis
in which the plant is in a light cycle intended to
			 stimulate the production of flowers, trichromes, and cannabinoids
			 characteristic of marijuana.
(23)
			 "Harvest Lot" means a specifically identified quantity of marijuana that is
			 uniform in strain, cultivated using the same growing practices, harvested at
			 the same time at the same location and cured under uniform
			 conditions.
(24) "Immature
			 Marijuana Plant" means a seedling or nonflowering marijuana plant.
(25) "Inventory Tracking System" means the
			 required seed to sale tracking system that tracks medical marijuana from either
			 seed or immature plant state until the usable marijuana is sold to a qualified
			 patient or designated caregiver or is destroyed.
(26) "Licensed Facility" means either a
			 cultivation facility or dispensary licensed by the Commission.
(27) "Lot" means an identified portion of a
			 batch, that is uniform and that is intended to meet specifications for
			 identity, strength, and composition; or in the case of a vapor, oil, or wax
			 derived from usable marijuana, an identified quantity produced in a specified
			 period of time in a manner that is uniform and that is intended to meet
			 specifications for identity, strength, and composition.
(28) "Manufacturing and Processing":
a. Means the manufacturing, processing,
			 compounding or conversion of marijuana into cannabinoid products, cannabinoid
			 concentrates, or cannabinoid extracts.
b. Does not mean the drying of
			 marijuana.
(29) "Mature
			 Marijuana Plant" means a marijuana plant that is flowering.
(30) "Medical Marijuana Container" means a
			 sealed, traceable, food compliant, child-proof packaging that cannot be opened
			 by a child, or that prevents ready access to toxic or harmful amounts of the
			 packaged product, and that meets the testing requirements in accordance with
			 the method described in
			 16 C.F.R. §
										1700.20, as existing on January 1,
			 2017.
(31) "Process Lot" means
a. Any amount of cannabinoid concentrate or
			 extract of the same type and processed at the same time using the same
			 extraction methods, standard operating procedures, and batches for the harvest
			 lot; or
b. Any amount of
			 cannabinoid products of the same type and processed at the same time using the
			 same ingredients, standard operating procedures and batches from the same
			 harvest lot or process lots of cannabinoid concentrate or extract.
(32) "Production Area" means any
			 area in a cultivation facility or dispensary used for the growing of medical
			 marijuana plants.
(33) "Qualifying
			 medical condition" means one or more of the following:
a. Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for
			 human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hepatitis C,
			 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Tourette's syndrome, Crohn's disease, ulcerative
			 colitis, post-traumatic stress disorder, severe arthritis, fibromyalgia,
			 Alzheimer's disease, or the treatment of these conditions;
b. A chronic or debilitating disease or
			 medical condition or its treatment that produces one (1) or more of the
			 following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; peripheral neuropathy; intractable
			 pain, which is pain that has not responded to ordinary medications, treatment
			 or surgical measures for more than six (6) months; severe nausea; seizures,
			 including without limitation those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and
			 persistent muscle spasms, including, without limitation those characteristic of
			 multiple sclerosis; and
c. Any
			 other medical condition or its treatment approved by the Department pursuant to
			 its Rules and the Amendment.
(34) "Qualifying patient" means a person who
			 has been diagnosed by a physician as having a qualifying medical condition and
			 who has registered with the Department in accordance with these Rules and the
			 Amendment.
(35) "Registry
			 identification card" means a document issued by the Department that identifies
			 a person as a qualifying patient or a designated caregiver.
(36) "Sealed" means expunge, remove,
			 sequester, and treat as confidential the record or records of a felony
			 offense;
(37) "Shipping Container"
			 means a sealable, tamper-evident container used for the transport of medical
			 marijuana between licensed facilities.
(38) 'Testing" means the process and
			 procedures provided by an approved laboratory for testing of usable marijuana,
			 consistent with provisions of this rule.
(39) "Transport" means to move medical
			 marijuana between licensed facilities or between a licensed facility and
			 approved laboratory.
(40) "Usable
			 marijuana" means the stalks, seeds, roots, dried leaves, flowers, oils, vapors,
			 waxes, and other portions of the marijuana plant and any mixture or preparation
			 thereof. Usable marijuana includes cannabinoid edibles, cannabinoid
			 concentrates, and cannabinoid extracts. Usable marijuana does not include the
			 weight of any ingredients other than marijuana that are combined with marijuana
			 and prepared for consumption as food and drink.
(41) "Unique Identification Number" ("UIN")
			 means a unique number generated by the Inventory Tracking System and assigned
			 to all usable marijuana for the purpose of tracking the marijuana from its seed
			 form to ultimate sale to a qualified patient/designated caregiver or
			 destruction.
(42) "Visiting
			 qualifying patient" means a patient with a qualifying medical condition who is
			 not a resident of Arkansas or who has been a resident of Arkansas for less than
			 thirty (30) days and who is in actual possession of a registry identification
			 card or its equivalent that is issued under the laws of another state,
			 district, territory, commonwealth, or insular possession of the United States
			 and pertains to a qualifying medical condition under the Amendment.