A business of any consequence needs a lobbyist so the advent of legal medical marijuana in Arkansas is unsurprisingly accompanied by the formation of a trade group.

A news release announces the formation of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association, whose acting executive director will be David Couch, the Little Rock lawyer who was a front man for the effort to put legal medical pot on the Arkansas election ballot.

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The group announces a board of directors that includes former Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, whose office happened to have approved the form of the medical marijuana amendment ballot title. He’s now in private law practice. Said the release:

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association will be the leading voice for medical marijuana cultivators, distributors and businesses that serve the industry in the Natural State. The association will engage in the policy making process to advocate for the industry, educate licensees on best practices to help selfregulate the industry, and conduct public education initiatives about the medical marijuana industry at large and the safe use of the drug for medicinal purposes.

“Arkansas voters made clear that they want sensible, safe medical marijuana policy in this state, because they recognize the clear evidence that cannabinoids are effective in pain relief and treating a number of chronic illnesses,” said David Couch, board member and acting executive director of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Association. “Our association will be a partnership of all those with a common interest in ensuring the state stays true to the will of the voters and medical marijuana operations are run safely and legally.”

And profitably, they might be thinking.

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Other board members include Dr. Steven Cathey, a neurosurgeon and chair of the Arkansas State Medical Board; Stephen La France, a former executive of the USA Drug chain once owned by his family; Dan Roda, a Little Rock developer; Kris Krane, with business interests related to retail marijuana dispensaries, and Dr. Richard Douglas, a Virginia marketing executive with past service in agriculture and export roles in Reagan and Bush administrations, and

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