When Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert T. Wright ordered the state to strip Storm Nolan's medical marijuana cultivation license in 2022, Nolan wasn't even party to the lawsuit.
The judge found in favor of a rival for the cultivation license, 2600 Holdings LLC, doing business as Southern Roots Cultivation, and against the state of Arkansas and Nolan's River Valley Relief Cultivation. River Valley has grown cannabis for the state's medicinal program since 2021, having obtained its license from the Medical Marijuana Commission in 2020.
But since 2600 Holdings filed suit five years ago, keeping up with the case has been like watching a yo-yo. The case is one of many lawsuits filed by disgruntled, unsuccessful applicants challenging the license process that began after Arkansans voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal use in 2016. The ongoing saga is a reminder of the many problems that plagued the state's initial rollout of the cannabis program.
Last year, the Arkansas Supreme Court reversed Wright's 2022 decision, finding he had erred when he denied Nolan's motion to intervene in the case. After all, the very existence of Nolan's multimillion-dollar cultivation center was on the line.
Read more at Arkansas Business