The Arkansas Democrat reports LaRee Treece of Little Rock received a medical marijuana card as soon as dispensaries started opening throughout the state in May 2019, but the cost of the dosage to treat her fibromyalgia is too much sometimes. Patients like Treece pay more for the drug — which isn’t covered by insurance — than it costs in several other states in which medical marijuana is legal. “I sometimes have to do without going to the grocery store in order to afford my medicine,” she said. Medical marijuana patients and advocates say the drug can cost as much as $400 per ounce or $50 per eighth-ounce. One gram at an Arkansas dispensary usually costs about $14, according to WeedMaps, a website that compares marijuana prices nationwide. The use of cannabis varies from patient to patient, said Melissa Fults, executive director of Arkansans for Cannabis Reform, but she uses less than the average patient because an ounce lasts about a month and an eighth lasts about a week for her. The amendment allows for a maximum of 40 medical marijuana dispensaries, spread evenly throughout eight geographic zones established by the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.
Sean Hocking, Cannabis Law Report, 03/17/2021 00:56:00