Group Spends More Than Half a Million Dollars on Pro-Marijuana Campaign in May: New Report

Marijuana

On Tuesday the group backing marijuana in Arkansas filed reports with the state Ethics Commission showing it spent $517,381 on its campaign during the month of May.

Arkansans for Patient Access has until July 5 to collect 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters to place its marijuana amendment on the ballot. If passed, the measure would drastically expand “medical” marijuana in Arkansas, making it easier for people to use marijuana recreationally.

All told, the group has raised and spent more than $1.1 million on its campaign. Arkansans for Patient Access currently has more than 400 paid canvassers hired to collect signatures for the ballot measure. The group’s funding primarily has come from businesses that grow or sell marijuana, and most of the money the campaign spent in May went toward its petition drive.

Among other things, the marijuana amendment fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana and marijuana products can contain.

Marijuana users would no longer need to show they suffer from a specific medical condition listed in state law — making it easier for people to use marijuana recreationally.

The amendment lets people grow and use marijuana at home, and it would openly legalize marijuana in Arkansas if federal laws against marijuana are repealed.

The measure also repeals significant restrictions on marijuana advertising in Arkansas.

All of this would lead to more marijuana in Arkansas.

Arkansas voters rejected marijuana legalization at the ballot box in 2022. That amendment was opposed by a broad coalition of churches, business groups, elected officials, and citizens who knew that marijuana would be bad for Arkansas. We anticipate similar opposition to the 2024 marijuana amendment.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Girls Deserve to Be Safe in Their Own Spaces

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Our friends at ADF recently released a video discussing the Biden Administration’s decision to redefine “sex” in Title IX — and how ADF is opposing that radical redefinition in Arkansas and elsewhere.

You can watch ADF’s video below.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced last month that his office and the Missouri Attorney General’s office are leading a legal challenge against the Biden administration’s recent reinterpretation of Title IX alongside our friends at Alliance Defending Freedom.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education and in activities that receive federal funding — like school athletic programs.

But the Biden Administration recently released more than 1,500 pages of new rules drastically reinterpreting “sex” under Title IX to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Under these rules, public schools could be forced to let biological males compete in women’s sports and use girls’ locker rooms, showers, and changing areas at school.

Attorney General Griffin’s lawsuit alleges that the Biden Administration’s new rule is unconstitutional and threatens female students’ privacy and athletic opportunities.

We have written repeatedly about how women’s athletics is at risk of being erased in America.

In particular, female cyclists, swimmers, powerlifters, sprinters, and others have seen their sports radically changed by biological males who identify and compete as women.

Letting men compete in women’s sports reverses 50 years of advancements for women.

It hampers girls’ abilities to compete for athletic scholarships, and it hurts their professional opportunities as adults.

In some sports, it can even be dangerous.

Fortunately, educators, policymakers, and athletic organizations are taking steps to protect women’s sports.

Last fall the North American Grappling Association clarified its competition policy, saying biological males must compete against other men, regardless of their gender identity.

Earlier this year the professional golf league NXXT Golf announced that only biological females would be eligible to participate in the NXXT Women’s Pro Tour.

And recently the NAIA announced a policy that should prevent male athletes from competing in women’s collegiate sports.

Many states — including Arkansas — have enacted laws that preserve fairness in women’s sports.

In 2021 Arkansas passed Act 461 by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) preventing male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics at school.

This good law protects fairness in women’s sports in Arkansas.

It’s worth pointing out that public opinion is shifting on this issue, with more Americans agreeing that athletes ought to compete according to their biological sex rather than their gender identity. With that in mind, we believe the Arkansas Attorney General’s office and Alliance Defending Freedom ultimately will succeed in court.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Why Do Pro-Abortion Groups Seem Fixated on Rage?

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Above: A graphic Planned Parenthood Action Fund posted on social media as part of an invitation for volunteers.

This week Planned Parenthood Action Fund published an invitation for volunteers under the heading, “Our Rage Will Be Heard.”

Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion provider, and the Action Fund contributes to candidates and other causes that align with Planned Parenthood’s mission.

The statement is just the latest example of pro-abortion groups encouraging people to turn to “rage.”

In May of 2022, the pro-abortion Women’s March announced that its “summer of rage is officially beginning” as many anticipated the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

After the court reversed Roe, fringe groups like Jane’s Revenge praised abortion activists who vandalized pro-life charities during the so-called “Night of Rage.”

Last year the Arkansas Abortion Support Network hosted a fundraiser letting people smash a car and other items. An invitation to the event said, “bring your rage, some enthusiasm for smashing, and a desire to fund abortion.”

Webster’s Dictionary defines “rage” as primarily “violent and uncontrolled anger;” “a fit of violent wrath;” or “violent action.”

Rage really has no place in democracy and civil discourse. Uncontrollable anger and violent wrath won’t lead to the kinds of changes anyone wants. Rage is destructive.

That belief has generally informed Family Council’s approach to defending the sanctity of human life. We oppose abortion. We agree with stopping abortion through any legal means. But we’ve never utilized the more aggressive tactics that some groups use.

Ten years ago it would have seemed ridiculous to say the pro-abortion movement thrives on “rage.” Unfortunately today it seems major pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood do exactly that.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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