Jim Smith takes leadership job with cannabis company

by Paul Gatling (pgatling@nwabj.com)

In August of 2020, late on a Friday afternoon, Rogers attorney Jim Smith got a phone call from Alex Gray, an attorney in Little Rock.

Gray wanted to hire Smith, considered one of Arkansas’ leading and most highly experienced business lawyers, to acquire one of Arkansas’ eight cannabis cultivation licenses. Gray was an investor with an operation that wanted the license — Good Day Farm Arkansas LLC.

Arkansas voters approved the legalization of medical marijuana in November 2016, with 53% of the vote. State lawmakers and regulators were slow to develop and implement the rules for issuing cultivation and dispensary licenses, and a series of legal actions hampered the process.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/04/jim-smith-takes-leadership-job-with-cannabis-company/

Jim Smith, president of business at Good Day Farm.

New Study Examines Arkansas Medical Marijuana Program

By DANIEL BREEN

Arkansas’ medical marijuana program is the subject of a new study examining its link to overall health outcomes.

Researchers with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement will lead the three-year study, funded by a $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

ACHI president and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson says little research exists on the link between medical cannabis and health outcomes.

“We don’t know whether we’re going to have findings that medical marijuana helps, for example, lowering individuals that have pain, their opioid prescription rate, or whether medical marijuana may have unintended effects of having new mental health conditions emerge,” Thompson said.