Marijuana Supporters Will Gather Signatures for 2016 Ballot

Marijuana

Arkansans for Responsible medicine, the same Arkansas group that pushed to legalize marijuana in 2012 and 2014, has secured approval to begin gathering signatures to place a similar measure on the ballot in 2016.

The group says they plan to launch their 2016 petition drive at a picnic in North Little Rock on September 6. The same group failed by 30,000 votes in the November 2012 election. This year they were short of the 62,000 signatures needed to place the measure on the 2014 ballot.

In 2012 the group received over $750,000, mostly from out-of-state marijuana interests. In 2014 they received little funding, so they were unable to pay large numbers of canvassers to gather signatures.

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Lack of Signatures Shows a Lack of Public Support for Marijuana

Current Events, Marijuana

The following press release was received from Family Council Action Committee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 7, 2014

On Monday, proponents of an effort to legalize marijuana announced they did not have enough signatures to place their measure on the ballot for the upcoming November General Election.

Family Council Action Committee President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “We are pleased to learn Arkansans have rejected the legalization of marijuana once again. Voters made a decision on that issue two years ago. The fact that the measure failed to get enough signatures to make it to the ballot tells me Arkansans are standing by that decision.”

Cox said placing a measure on the ballot by way of a petition drive is a very difficult process that requires a lot of support from across the state. “Since 1984 I have conducted five successful volunteer-based petition drives to place measures on the ballot. The key is public support. If you don’t have public support, you’re going to have a hard time getting your measure on the ballot and approved by the voters. The fact they were not able to get the signatures they needed shows Arkansans do not think marijuana ought to be legalized.”

Cox said his group will continue to monitor any future efforts to legalize marijuana in Arkansas.

Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Heritage Foundation Busts Marijuana Myths

Marijuana

Last week the Heritage Foundation released a concise summary of seven common myths about marijuana and why each one is incorrect.

The myths Heritage Foundation addresses are:

  • Myth #1: Marijuana is harmless and non-addictive.
  • Myth #2: Smoked or eaten marijuana is medicine.
  • Myth #3: Countless people are behind bars simply for smoking marijuana.
  • Myth #4: The legality of alcohol and tobacco strengthen the case for legal marijuana.
  • Myth #5: Legal marijuana will solve the government’s budgetary problems.
  • Myth #6: Portugal and Holland provide successful models of legalization.
  • Myth #7: Prevention, intervention, and treatment are doomed to fail—So why try?

These are common myths–many of which we have discussed on our blog in the past. One of our most popular blog posts of all time tackles questions concerning the number of people who have died from marijuana, and we recently wrote about a study released a few weeks ago demonstrating that even casual marijuana-use can cause brain damage.

Heritage Foundation writes:

“[M]arijuana is not as dangerous as cocaine or heroin, but calling it harmless or non-addictive denies very clear science embraced by every major medical association that has studied the issue. . . .

“Mental health researchers are also noting the significant marijuana connection with schizophrenia, and educators are seeing how persistent marijuana use can blunt academic motivation and significantly reduce IQ by up to eight points, according to a very large recent study in New Zealand.”

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Marijuana may be a lot of things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.

Click here to read Heritage Foundation’s full list of marijuana myths.

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