The state Medical Marijuana Commission approved a permit today for an embattled Fort Smith cultivator after the commission’s attorney blasted an opposing lawyer and told commissioners a denial could get them in trouble with the state Supreme Court.
The commission approved the renewal of a cultivation permit for River Valley Relief Cultivation, the Fort Smith marijuana producer who had its permit revoked last year before an appeal to the state Supreme Court put the matter on hold.
The commission must approve permits for each of the state’s marijuana businesses before June 30. The commission approved nearly all of them at its meeting last month but it left River Valley, the one with the most questions surrounding it, for today’s meeting.
An attorney for River Valley sent a letter to the staff of the Alcoholic Beverage Control division, which regulates the industry, explaining that the commission should approve the permit. Joseph Falasco said in the letter that failing to renew the permit would violate the Supreme Court’s order to maintain the status quo in the case while the matter is before the court.
Abtin Mehdizadegan, an attorney for the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case, sent a letter, advising the commission that it should not renew the permit. Mehdizadegan sent his letter directly to the commissioners and not…
