LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After five hours of testimony on Wednesday, state officials voted to revoke the license of one of the first legal marijuana dispensaries in Arkansas.
After lots of questioning and testimonies from both sides, the Alcoholic Beverage Control board decided to take away Green Springs' dispensary license.
This makes it the first dispensary in Arkansas to have its license revoked and regulators said that multiple state law violations led to the hearing.
Regulators said some of the violations from Green Springs include selling expired products, missing inventory, and failing to have a clean processing area.
The owner, Dragan Vicentic said he didn't intentionally sell expired products and said moisture loss and human error were the reasons for missing or incorrect inventory.
As for the processing area, Vicentic's team argued that it was cluttered and not "unsanitary" like agents reported.
He pushed for the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to reconsider revoking his license.
"Closing Green Springs would be devastating to the patients who have weened themselves off of harmful opioids and are using natural medical marijuana as their choice for medication," Vicentic explained.
ABC director Christy Bjornson said that allowing Green Springs to continue operating could be harmful to patients.
"ABC's job is to regulate medical marijuana, it's our job. And if we turn a blind eye to the issues at Green Springs, we're not doing our job," she added.
However, the hearing on Wednesday wasn't Vicentic's first time in front of the board. Green Springs has been fined multiple times over the past few years.
Now, the ABC wants to stop operations immediately.
"At this point, Green Springs can no longer make sales to patients. The order has been reduced to writing, and Mr. Vicentic does have the opportunity to appeal under the Administrative Procedures Act to the circuit court," Bjornson said.
After the hearing, Vicentic declined an interview about the decision but said he plans on appealing it again.