Cannabis in Little Rock — The Capital, Pulaski County, Zone 5

Last verified: May 2026

The Capital and Its Dispensary Cluster

Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas and the seat of Pulaski County. Together with North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, and the surrounding Saline and Faulkner counties, the Little Rock metro is home to ~750,000 people — roughly a quarter of the state. The dispensary cluster across the metro includes:

• Native Green Wellness Center (Hensley) — one of the highest-volume dispensaries in the central zone.
• Custom Cannabis (Alexander).
• Natural Relief Dispensary (Sherwood).
• Releaf at Kanis (Little Rock).
• Arkansas’ Finest (multiple locations including Conway).

The Regulatory Center of Arkansas Cannabis

Little Rock is where Arkansas cannabis policy is made and enforced:

• Arkansas Department of Health, Medical Marijuana Section — 4815 W. Markham St., Slot 4. Patient registry, caregiver registration, visiting-patient applications. (501) 682-4982.
• Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission (AMMC) — business licensing for cultivators, dispensaries, processors, transporters.
• Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control Division (ABC), an arm of DFA — licensee inspections, agent registration cards, enforcement.
• Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) — tax administration. DFA spokesman Scott Hardin handles most cannabis-related public communications.
• Arkansas Office of the Attorney General — AG Tim Griffin’s office certified Act 934 enforcement and led the state’s legal defense against the Bio Gen hemp injunction.
• Arkansas State Capitol — where Amendment 98, Issue 4, Issue 3, Act 629, and SB 59 were debated and enacted (or, in Issue 4 and Issue 3’s case, blocked).

UAMS and the Healthcare Anchor

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is the state’s only academic medical center and the dominant healthcare anchor in Pulaski County. UAMS’s Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute received the bulk of medical-cannabis tax revenue from 2017 through 2024 (the NCI Designation Trust Fund); after February 2025’s SB 59, that revenue stream now flows to the universal-school-breakfast Food Insecurity Fund. UAMS clinicians are also among the most-cited research authors in the ACHI/UAMS Health Affairs March 2025 study of the Arkansas medical-cannabis patient population.

The Civil-Rights Heritage

Little Rock’s civil-rights heritage matters for any cannabis-policy conversation. The 1957 desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High School — the Little Rock Nine — remains one of the defining chapters of the post-WWII Civil Rights Movement. The Pulaski County Black political establishment, including various Mayoral and Sheriff offices through the years, has historically been more reform-friendly on cannabis enforcement than rural-county counterparts.

Pulaski County prosecutors generally treat first-offense possession of small amounts as a fine-and-court-cost matter rather than pursuing aggressive incarceration. By comparison, neighboring Faulkner County and Saline County prosecutors pursue harsher charging on similar facts.

Major Employers

• Dillard’s Inc. — corporate HQ, standard at-will retail drug-testing policy.
• Stephens Inc. — investment banking; the Stephens family also holds substantial Good Day Farm Arkansas stakes.
• Murphy USA — HQ in El Dorado but with major Little Rock office.
• Acxiom — data services.
• Bank OZK — HQ in Little Rock.
• Windstream — HQ in Little Rock.
• UAMS — large healthcare/academic employer; subject to federal-funding drug-testing policies.

Federal Installations Within Driving Distance

• Little Rock Air Force Base (Jacksonville, north of Little Rock) — the C-130 transport pilot training center. Federal drug-testing applies to all military personnel and DoD civilian employees.
• Camp Joseph T. Robinson (North Little Rock) — Arkansas National Guard headquarters. National Guard membership is a statutory bar on Amendment 98 cardholding.
• Pine Bluff Arsenal (Jefferson County, ~45 minutes south) — chemical demilitarization. Federal drug-testing applies.
• Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks regional offices.

Cultural Anchors

• Clinton Presidential Center and Park — downtown Little Rock landmark; substantial federal and tourism employment.
• Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site — civil-rights heritage tourism anchor.
• Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Arts Center — downtown cultural anchors.
• Hot Springs day-trip — ~50 minutes southwest; many Pulaski County patients drive to Suite 443 or Green Springs Medical for the historical-flagship experience.

Patient Practical Notes

• Walmart, Tyson, J.B. Hunt, and other Northwest-Arkansas-headquartered employers have substantial Pulaski-County office presences with the same drug-testing posture as their HQs.
• UAMS, federal employers, federal contractors, and security-clearance roles use federal drug-testing rules — an Amendment 98 card adds no defense.
• Pulaski County’s combined state + local sales tax on medical cannabis runs ~10.5% (6.5% state + 1% city + 1% county + 4% privilege stacked at retail = ~13% effective at register, with the wholesale 4% privilege already baked into shelf price).

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