On Tuesday Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Sanders issued a statement opposing Issue 4, a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana in Arkansas.
Sanders’s statement says,
I don’t think that with the drug epidemic that we have across this state, frankly across the country, that adding and giving more access to that does anything to benefit Arkansas, so I certainly wouldn’t be supportive of that.”
Sanders is the latest leader to speak out against Issue 4.
In September Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Governor Mike Huckabee, Lt. Governor Tim Griffin, Congressman French Hill, and U.S. Senator Tom Cotton issued statements opposing Issue 4.
A growing body of research underscores the dangers associated with marijuana legalization.
For example, a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that states that legalized commercial marijuana sales saw self-harm rates rise by 46% among men ages 21 to 39.
Marijuana can have damaging effects on adolescent brains — including permanent loss in IQ, difficulty thinking and problem-solving, reduced coordination, and increased risk of psychosis.
As we have said in the past, Issue 4 — the proposed marijuana amendment — makes sweeping changes to Arkansas’ constitution and state laws.
It repeals, replaces, and rewrites several parts of Arkansas’ medical marijuana amendment that voters passed in 2016, it adds new language to other parts of the Arkansas Constitution, and it drastically expands marijuana in every community in Arkansas.
It is unclear just how far-reaching some of these changes may be.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
