Arkansas governor spikes medical marijuana drive-thru windows

Drive-thru windows at cannabis shops are a common sight in some states, but Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders isn’t having it on her watch.

On Wednesday, Sanders vetoed a bill from the legislature that would have permitted licensed medical marijuana dispensaries to add drive-thru windows to their shops, saying such a move would’ve “expanded access to usable marijuana,” the Arkansas Times reported.

The bipartisan measure “squeaked through” both chambers of the legislature with the bare minimum of majority votes, the Times reported.

The measure, House Bill 1889, also would have permitted patients to tour dispensaries as they can medical cannabis grows and slashed requirements on the number of workers required to man dispensary delivery vehicles.

Drive-thrus and the other changes could still become law, the Times noted, if the same lawmakers that passed the bill keep their votes the same, because Arkansas law only requires a simple majority in both chambers to override a governor’s veto.

But the odds of a veto override vote happening before the 2025 legislative session adjourns are slim, the Times reported, with regular business for the year concluded and lawmakers not expected to gather again prior to adjourning in a few weeks.

Growth in the southern state’s cannabis market has been stymied by politics in recent years. Last year, a campaign to expand the Arkansas medical marijuana industry was kept off the ballot by a legal challenge, and in 2022, voters shot down a ballot question that would have legalized recreational marijuana.

In the meantime, the Arkansas medical marijuana market has been weathering wholesale price compression even as it watches revenues climb.