“Imagine if an illegal immigrant could come here and get a free marijuana card. What would that do to our country…?”
Mary Hennigan, Arkansas Attorney
The Family Council Action Committee on Wednesday announced plans for a statewide tour to urge Arkansans to vote against legislation that would transform the medical marijuana industry.
The Family Council Action Committee, a conservative nonprofit based in Little Rock, opposes the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 and the Arkansas Abortion Abortion Amendment of 2024. The state Supreme Court has ruled that the latter technically disqualifies the process, but the former is still considered to be in limbo, whether or not a vote is taken.
“While it’s no one’s fault, I think it’s very unfair. We’re in this situation on the eve of early voting, and we still don’t know if some of the measures qualify,” the state said Wednesday. Secretary of State Jerry Cox said during a press conference at the Capitol. “That’s very difficult.”
Early voting in Arkansas begins Monday, but the Arkansas Supreme Court has not yet ruled on certification of the medical marijuana constitutional amendment.
Nevertheless, starting next week and leading up to Election Day, staff from the Family Council Action Committee will visit 25 cities in Arkansas to share their thoughts on the proposed initiatives in public forums. Volunteers from all 75 counties will also help hand out flyers in local communities, primarily churches, Cox said.
Although Arkansas residents voted in favor of legalizing medical marijuana in 2016, the first products were not sold until 2019. The state currently has 37 licensed dispensaries and a $1 billion medical marijuana industry.
The proposed amendments aim to improve patient access by removing barriers that prevent some people, primarily those living in rural and low-income areas, from using medical marijuana. The proposed measures would, among other things, eliminate patient card application fees and allow health care providers to conduct patient assessments via telemedicine.
“Patients who need medical marijuana can get it,” Cox said. “Currently, more than 100,000 people in Arkansas have medical marijuana cards, and access is no problem.”
Regarding local access, Cox said he doesn’t think the amendment would help residents because it doesn’t add additional pharmacy locations.
Cox cited three main concerns Wednesday: industry experts creating an initiative to give themselves a “permanent monopoly,” children being harmed by the removal of advertising regulations, and patient card fees. By eliminating “Arkansans” and “illegal immigrants,” non-Arkansans and “illegal immigrants” can access services paid for by taxpayer dollars.
“Imagine where people can get free marijuana cards to use marijuana in Arkansas. And how that might impact certain communities where people congregate. ” said Cox. “Imagine if illegal immigrants could come here and get a free marijuana card. What would that do to our state, and how would Arkansas become a destination for marijuana drug use? What message does this send to the rest of the country?”
Arkansans for Patient Access, a ballot question committee supporting the amendment, said Cox and the Family Council Action Committee are trying to incite fear and link medical marijuana to the nation’s immigration debate.
“There’s no tie,” Commissioner Bill Pascal said. “To obtain a patient card, a person must have a valid state ID and be certified by an Arkansas licensed health care provider. The only thing that’s free with the medical marijuana card is that patients no longer have to pay a fee to the state; they still need to be certified by a doctor, pharmacist, advanced practice nurse, or physician’s assistant. Doctors charge an average of $150 for certification, which is far from free.”
Pashkol added, “It’s hard to imagine that Arkansas would become a destination for marijuana use when 24 states now allow recreational use and other medical states have less onerous access requirements. That’s stupid,” he continued.
In addition to its on-the-ground efforts across the state, the Family Council Action Committee also paid for advertising on local streaming stations. Cox did not mention the name of the service other than the music platform Spotify.
“What’s really disappointing about this amendment is the fact that we’ve seen some very powerful marijuana billionaires manipulate our initiative process in order to buy their way to the vote. ,” Cox said. “What they are doing to the people of Arkansas is absolutely terrible. And what they are doing in the name of Almighty God should not be happening to our country.”
The Family Council Action Committee also opposed an effort to legalize recreational marijuana in Arkansas in 2022, without receiving enough votes. Cox noted that this year’s measure was “same song, different verse.”
Ongoing legal challenges
Secretary of State John Thurston (R) in July verified nearly 77,000 signatures from Arkansans seeking patient access, and the group was given the necessary 90,704 signatures to qualify for the ballot. An additional 30 days were given to collect signatures.
At the end of the extension, the group had submitted nearly 39,000 more signatures, but the validity of those signatures was called into question because agents rather than sponsors signed the required documents.
After additional signatures, Thurston ruled the petition insufficient due to technicalities in the paperwork, but Arkansans for Patient Access challenged it in court.
Days after Thurston said signatures submitted using proxy signatures would not be counted, the Supreme Court ordered him to continue counting them.
Two justices declined to rule on whether votes on the medical marijuana amendment would be counted. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) has assigned a replacement, pending a ruling on the signature issue and whether the name and title on the ballot is misleading.
In a ruling this week on another constitutional amendment related to casinos in Arkansas, the high court ruled that a representative’s signature on behalf of the sponsor is permissible. Cox said Wednesday that the ruling suggests the state Supreme Court will not strike down the medical marijuana amendment on that basis.
This article was first published by the Arkansas Advocate.
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Photo by Chris Wallis // Side pocket image.
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