Reports filed this week with the Arkansas Ethics Commission show the group backing marijuana in Arkansas spent more than $1.9 million on its 2024 campaign.
Arkansans for Patient Access worked unsuccessfully to pass Issue 3, an amendment drastically expanding marijuana in the state, this year.
Issue 3 would have made more than 30 changes to Arkansas’ constitution.
Among other things, the amendment would have given a handful of businesses a monopoly over marijuana in Arkansas, and it would have removed restrictions that protect children from marijuana marketing.
Issue 3 would have given free marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents who come to Arkansas to use marijuana.
Under this measure, marijuana users would no longer need to show they suffer from a specific medical condition listed in state law — which would have made it easier to use marijuana recreationally.
Issue 3 also failed to limit the amount of THC in marijuana products.
All of this would have meant more marijuana in Arkansas.
Arkansans for Patient Access hired canvassers to collect petition signatures to place Issue 3 on the ballot. However, in October the Arkansas Secretary of State announced that Issue 3’s sponsors failed to meet the legal requirements to place the measure on the ballot.
That prompted Arkansans for Patient Access to file a lawsuit against the Secretary of State. On October 21 the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 failed to qualify for the November ballot.
All told, the campaign for Issue 3 cost Arkansans for Patient Access $1,956,299.76. Most of the funding came from members of the marijuana industry, and the group spent it primarily on petition canvassing, consulting services, and legal services.
With that said, marijuana is a multi-billion dollar industry. That means this probably will not be the last time someone tries to legalize marijuana in Arkansas.
A growing body of research shows marijuana is dangerous.
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.
We have also written time and again about how marijuana’s legalization in other states has actually emboldened drug cartels and organized crime.
Some of these illegal marijuana operations are tied to labor trafficking and violent crime, and some have connections to foreign interests like the Chinese Communist Party.
A CBS News segment last year highlighted how Chinese investment is driving illegal marijuana production across the U.S.
CBN reported last October that Chinese investors with “suitcases full of cash” are buying U.S. farmland to grow black market marijuana.
Other correspondents have reported how these illegal marijuana operations contribute to “modern day slavery on American soil.”
All of this raises serious concerns about what marijuana expansion could mean for Arkansas.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
