Arkansas tells stores to stop selling THC products or face penalties under new ban

OG Article by Andrew Mobley 

Watch Today's LIVE Episode on YouTube, X, and Rumble

July 03, 2025

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Arkansas’ ban on psychoactive THC products like Delta-8, though not officially in force yet, is already hitting smoke and vape shops hard.

Multiple smoke shops told KATV that they’ve lost a lot of business since receiving news of the pending ban and clearing their shelves of THC products.

Some say they’ve lost as much as 70 percent of their business.

According to employees at Little Rock’s Five Star Smoke Shop, their store—once bringing in $800 to $1,000 a day—now has days where it struggles to make $100. David Lowe, an employee at the shop, says he’s afraid about his job security.

“Yeah, it’s like $100, $80, $50 a day sometimes,” Lowe said. “It’s like real slow.”

And it’s costing the store its customers, who, disappointed to find there aren’t any THC products, walk out without buying anything.

“This is where it normally be—I had to fill this space with cigars, but this is the cabinet where all the gummies and everything,” Lowe said. “[Customers] come straight to this area, they come in and when they don’t see nothing, they like, ‘What’s going on, where’s the CBD?’ I’m like, ‘Well, they took it.’ I’ve had about five, six, seven, eight people walk right back out. It’s bad.”

Wednesday, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration sent a notice to alcohol, tobacco, and medical marijuana permit holders warning them that continued sale, production, or possession of products containing THC is illegal.

DFA demanded that all such items be immediately removed from stock.

The department confirmed that Tobacco Control agents have completed courtesy visits to about 1,000 stores across Arkansas after an appeals court upheld Arkansas’ THC ban on June 24.

DFA spokesman Scott Hardin told KATV the visits were focused on educating retailers in advance of formal enforcement—and that no products were seized and no citations were issued.

It appears to be working. There are empty shelves in many of Little Rock’s vape shops.

“They came in and said, ‘Pull this, pull this, pull that,’” Lowe said.

The state first moved to ban THC products in 2023 after an alarming rise in cases of children being poisoned and hospitalized after consuming them. Until now, THC was unregulated in Arkansas, with no age minimums and no dosage or quality standards. Lowe said his shop enforced its own age policy.

“You have to be 21 or older. We ID everybody,” he said.

In the meantime, some are concerned that THC users who don’t have medical marijuana cards may turn to illegal and more dangerous alternatives.

“I would advise everybody to go get their medical marijuana card,” said Joe Lewis, a vape shop patron. “But, hey, if you ain’t got that medical marijuana card... I just advise everybody to go and get it, and just do the right thing, man.”

“It helps people—with the CBD in it—it helps them with pain and helps them with certain things,” Lowe added. “Without it, people are a straight wreck. I think they should bring it back.”

The THC ban isn’t fully in effect yet. Even though an appeals court ruled in favor of it, the official mandate still has to be issued.