Effort in Arkansas to add nearly 40 medical marijuana conditions falls short

An Arkansas legislative committee shelved an effort to more than triple the conditions that would qualify patients to use medical cannabis, a move that likely would have resulted in a more robust market.

The proposal to expand the conditions list from 18 to 57 did not receive a motion to advance out of the House Rules Committee to the floor.

The measure would have added asthma, attention deficit disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and several other conditions.

The 18 current conditions include chronic pain, cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, Tourette syndrome, Crohn’s disease, severe arthritis and Alzheimer’s.

Arkansas recently licensed 32 companies to sell medical marijuana, and sales are expected to begin around April.

Roughly 7,000 patients have signed up for the program so far in advance of MMJ becoming available in the state.

Arkansas voters in 2016 legalized medical cannabis.

– Associated Press and Marijuana Business Daily