After recent news came out that Oklahoma would allow out-of-state residents to apply for temporary medical marijuana licenses, the Arkansas Department of Health announced that it anticipates to issue medical marijuana IDs within 30 days.
But that decision is pending until a Medical Marijuana Commission meeting on Jan. 9, where officials will announce dispensary scores.
Once Arkansas residents have their ID card, they will be allowed to seek a temporary license in Oklahoma.
The temporary ID would allow someone from another state to buy, use or grow medical marijuana in Oklahoma. The card is only valid for 30 days, but can be renewed. There is a $100 application fee for the temporary license.
"We've had a number of calls from patients who've received their letters saying they were approved for a card and a card would be issued in the future," Connie Melton said, branch chief of Health Systems Licensing and Certification for ADH said. "[They] have indicated an interest in having their Arkansas medical marijuana card issued to them now, so they could receive a visitor, temporary Oklahoma card."
According to ADH, a total of 6,743 people in the state have been approved for medical marijuana.
Voters in Arkansas approved medical marijuana in 2016 while Oklahoma approved it in June of 2018.