Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 006 - Department of Finance and Administration › Division 02 - Alcoholic Beverage Control Division › Rule 006.02.22-001 - Oversight of Medical Marijuana Cultivation, Processors, and Dispensaries

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
RULES GOVERNING THE OVERSIGHT OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
				CULTIVATION FACILITIES, PROCESSORS AND DISPENSARIES BY THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE
				CONTROL DIVISION
SECTION 1.
AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD
These rules governing the oversight of medical marijuana
				cultivation facilities, processors 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 govern the oversight of medical marijuana
				cultivation facilities, processors and dispensaries in Arkansas. These rules
				govern the requirements for record keeping, security, and personnel at
				cultivation facilities, processors and dispensaries. These rules govern the
				requirements for the manufacturing, processing, packaging, dispensing,
				disposing, advertising, and marketing of medical marijuana by cultivation
				facilities, processors and dispensaries. These rules govern the procedures for
				inspecting and investigating cultivation facilities, processors and
				dispensaries. These rules govern the procedures for sanctioning, suspending,
				and terminating cultivation facility, processors and dispensary licenses for
				violations of the amendment or these rules.
SECTION 3.
DEFINITIONS
3.1 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.
3.2 Amendment" means the Arkansas Medical
			 Marijuana Amendment of 2016.
3.3
			 "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.
3.4
			 "Authorized Personnel" means any employee employed by a licensed facility and
			 granted permission by the facility to enter into restricted areas.
3.5 "Batch" means, with regard to usable
			 marijuana, a homogenous, identified quantity of usable marijuana, no greater
			 than ten (10 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.
3.6 "Biannual" means every six (6)
			 months.
3.7 "Cannabinoid" means any
			 of the chemical compounds that are the active constituents of
			 marijuana.
3.8 "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 pressure or heat over 180 degrees.
3.9 "Cannabinoid edible" means
			 food or potable liquid into which a cannabinoid concentrate, cannabinoid
			 extract, or dried marijuana leaves or flowers have been incorporated.
3.10 "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.
3.11 "Cardholder" means a qualifying patient,
			 a dispensary agent, a cultivation facility agent, transporter agent, processor
			 facility agent, or a designated caregiver;
3.12 "Commercially available" means any
			 candy, food, gum or beverage that is produced or sold by a third
			 party.
3.13 "Commission" means the
			 Medical Marijuana Commission.
3.14
			 "Contractor" means any person or business under contract to complete repairs or
			 improvements or to provide services to the licensed facility.
3.15 "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.
3.16 "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 Administrative Division.
3.17 "Department" means the
			 Arkansas Department of Health.
3.18
			 "Deliver" means to move medical marijuana product between a licensed dispensary
			 and a qualified patient or designated caregiver.
3.19 "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 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.
3.20 "Dispensary" means an entity that has
			 been licensed by the Medical Marijuana Commission pursuant to the requirements
			 of the Amendment.
3.21 "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.
3.22
			 "Division" means the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Administrative
			 Division.
3.23 "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;
3.24 "Enforcement"
			 means the Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement Division
3.25 "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.
3.26 "Flowering" means the reproductive state
			 of
Cannabis
in which the plant is in a light cycle intended to
			 stimulate the production of flowers, trichome, and cannabinoids characteristic
			 of marijuana.
3.27 "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.
3.28 "Immature Marijuana Plant" means a
			 seedling or nonflowering marijuana plant.
3.29 "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.
3.30 "Licensed Facility" means either a
			 cultivation facility, processor, transporter, or dispensary licensed by the
			 Commission.
3.31 "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.
3.32 "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.
3.33
			 "Marijuana" or "Medical Marijuana" means marijuana in any form described in the
			 Amendment or rules promulgated by the Division, Department, or the
			 Commission.
3.34 "Mature Marijuana
			 Plant" means a marijuana plant that is flowering.
3.35 "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.
3.36 "Process Lot" means
a. Any amount of cannabinoid concentrates 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.
3.37 "Processor" means an entity
			 that:
a. Has been licensed by the Medical
			 Marijuana Commission; and
b. May
			 acquire, possess, manufacture, process, prepare, deliver, transport, and supply
			 marijuana to a dispensary or cultivation facility.
3.38 "Processor Agent" means an employee,
			 supervisor, or agent of a processor who:
a. Is
			 twenty-one (21) years of age or older;
b. Works at the processor; and'
c. Has registered with the Alcoholic Beverage
			 Control Division
3.39
			 "Production Area" means any area in a cultivation facility or dispensary used
			 for the growing of medical marijuana plants.
3.40 "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.
3.41
			 "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.
3.42 "Registry identification card" means a
			 document issued by the Department that identifies a person as a qualifying
			 patient or a designated caregiver or a document issued by the Division that
			 identifies a person as an agent of a cultivation facility, dispensary,
			 processor, or transporter.
3.43
			 "Sealed" means expunge, remove, sequester, and treat as confidential the record
			 or records of a felony offense;
3.44 "Shipping Container" means a sealable,
			 tamper-evident container used for the transport of medical marijuana between
			 licensed facilities.
3.45 "Testing"
			 means the process and procedures provided by an approved laboratory for testing
			 of usable marijuana, consistent with provisions of this rule.
3.46 "Transport" means to move medical
			 marijuana between licensed facilities or between a licensed facility and
			 approved laboratory.
3.47 "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.
3.48 "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.
3.49 "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 has registered with the Department.