Unpacking the Polling On “Medical” Marijuana in Arkansas

Marijuana

Earlier this month Talk Business published the results of a poll conducted in cooperation with Impact Management and Hendrix College. The poll purports to show 84% of Arkansas voters support “medical” marijuana prescribed by a physician.

Many people are touting these poll results as proof Arkansans support legalization of “medical” marijuana. But before we jump to conclusions, let’s look at the key question in the poll regarding marijuana:

“Do you agree or disagree that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician prescribes it?”

According to Talk Business, 84% of people surveyed answered “agree.” There is a problem, however: The kind of marijuana proposal described by this poll question is nothing like any of the proposals being offered to Arkansans right now. In fact, it’s nothing like any “medical” marijuana law we know of in the nation.

Here is what we mean. (more…)

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Lottery Ticket Sales, Scholarship Funds Drop in August

Arkansas Lottery

Lottery scholarship revenue dropped by nearly $300,000 in August as ticket sales fell, according to the latest monthly report from the Arkansas Lottery.

The Arkansas Lottery took in nearly $31.3 million dollars during the month of August, but only paid out about $5.5 million.

Altogether, only 17.6 cents of every dollar the Arkansas Lottery makes goes to fund scholarships.

While the Lottery is only two months into Fiscal Year 2016, scholarship funding is on track to come in around $70 million for the year–$30 million less than lottery proponents promised Arkansans when the Lottery was first instituted in Arkansas. Of course, we have written time and again about a few simple changes Lottery officials could make to increase scholarship funding.

Below is a breakdown of lottery ticket sales and scholarship funding for Fiscal Year 2016.

Month (FY16) Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July $ 31,665,651.14 $ 5,784,683.09 18.3%
August  31,265,177.55  5,490,094.00 17.6%
Total $ 62,930,828.69 $ 11,274,777.09 17.9%

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Fayetteville Voters Approve Unlawful Ordinance

Homosexuality, ,

On Tuesday voters in Fayetteville approved a so-called “nondiscrimination” ordinance that the Attorney General recently opined was unenforceable under state law.

The final vote was 53% in favor of the ordinance to 47% against the ordinance. According to the Washington County Election Commission, voter turnout in the special election on the ordinance was approximately 29%.

The ordinance writes special protections into the city code for people based on sexual-orientation and gender-identity. It is substantially similar to an ordinance Fayetteville voters overturned last December. We have written repeatedly how these ordinances threaten religious liberty.

Many have mistakenly described the ordinance as exempting churches and religious organizations. The truth is the ordinance contains very narrow language that, at best, exempts church property and church hiring practices; however, a minister could be penalized under this ordinance for declining to solemnize a same-sex marriage, and people of faith who own catering services, florist shops, wedding venues, and so on receive no protection under the ordinance at all.

Earlier this year the Arkansas Legislature approved Act 137 which prevents local municipalities from enacting any nondiscrimination ordinance that differs from state law. The Attorney General released an opinion last week making it clear ordinances like the one Fayetteville has adopted are unenforceable under Act 137.

Below are some points on how the ordinance, if enforced, could negatively affect Fayetteville, Arkansas. (more…)

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