The following is a press release from Family Council Action Committee.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
LITTLE ROCK – On Tuesday voters in Arkansas rejected Issue 4, the amendment to legalize marijuana in Arkansas.
Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is a stunning victory for Arkansas. Supporters of Issue 4 spent more than $13 million placing it on the ballot and trying to persuade voters to support it. Arkansans knew better than to go along with that. This was a true ‘David and Goliath’ fight and David won. The campaign against Issue 4 had only a fraction of the money that the marijuana industry had, but it was defeated by a broad coalition of churches, business groups, elected officials, and citizens who knew that Issue 4 would be bad for Arkansas.”
Cox praised the broad coalition of groups and individuals who opposed Issue 4. “Defeating Issue 4 was truly a team effort. We couldn’t have defeated Issue 4 without the broad, bipartisan coalition against it. Here are just a few of the people who spoke out against this measure: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Governor Asa Hutchinson, Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin, U.S. Senators Boozman and Cotton, U.S. Congressmen Rick Crawford, French Hill, and Bruce Westerman, attorney David Couch, marijuana advocate Melissa Fults, the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, dozens of state lawmakers, Arkansas Farm Bureau, the Arkansas Trucking Association, the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Focus on the Family, the Arkansas Faith and Ethics Council, the Republican Party of Arkansas, the Arkansas State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, and many, many others. Every one of these individuals and organizations brought something unique to the fight against Issue 4. We were able to defeat Issue 4 today, because everybody did their part.”
Cox said he hopes tonight’s vote sends a powerful message to the corporations that want to legalize marijuana in Arkansas. “The marijuana industry spent millions of dollars trying to write itself into the Arkansas Constitution. Now they know that Arkansans do not support that kind of crony politics. Communities in Arkansas don’t want to be like Portland or Chicago. The people who backed Issue 4 should think twice before trying to legalize marijuana in our state.”
