Arkansas State Police Seize Illegal Fentanyl, Marijuana from Out of State

Marijuana,

On Monday the Arkansas State Police announced troopers seizes thousands of illegal Fentanyl pills along with illegal marijuana from out of state during a traffic stop.

In a press release, authorities said,

On Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at approximately 2 p.m., Arkansas State Police (ASP) conducted a traffic stop on a 2024 White Nissan Altima near the 3-mile marker on Interstate 40 eastbound. During a search of the vehicle, Troopers discovered approximately 7,000 pills of Fentanyl,18 pints of promethazine/codeine syrup and illegal marijuana.

ASP took the driver and the passenger into custody. The two individuals told investigators they were traveling from Riverside, Calif., to Memphis, Tenn.

We have seen time and again in other states how legalizing marijuana doesn’t weaken the black market, and it doesn’t alleviate the opioid crisis. If anything, it makes those problems worse.

Right now the group Arkansans for Patient Access is actively working to drastically expand marijuana in Arkansas.

If passed, the amendment would give free marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents who come to Arkansas to use marijuana.

The amendment would guarantee marijuana growers and sellers a monopoly over the state’s marijuana industry.

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

The measure also fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana products can contain, and it repeals restrictions on marijuana advertising.

All of this would lead to more marijuana in the state.

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

READ MORE

Arkansas Supreme Court Continues Weighing Arguments in Lawsuit Over Proposed Abortion Amendment

Abortion, , ,

The Arkansas Supreme Court continues to weigh arguments over whether or not a proposal to write abortion into the state constitution may be eligible for the ballot this year.

On Friday, attorneys for Arkansans for Limited Government and the Secretary of State’s Office both filed briefs with the court as part of a lawsuit over the measure.

The Arkansas Abortion Amendment would change the constitution to prevent the State of Arkansas from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy — which is more extreme than Roe v. Wade — and would allow thousands of elective abortions on healthy women and unborn children every year.

The amendment does not contain any medical licensing or health and safety standards for abortion, and it does not require abortions to be performed by a physician or in a licensed medical facility.

It automatically nullifies all state laws that conflict with the amendment, jeopardizing basic abortion regulations — like parental-consent and informed-consent requirements.

The measure also contains various exceptions that would permit abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in many cases.

Last month, Arkansans for Limited Government submitted petition signatures to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the ballot. Bringing the amendment up for a vote would require at least 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters.

However, Secretary of State John Thurston disqualified every petition filed to place the abortion measure on the ballot, because the sponsors failed to provide affidavits that state law requires concerning paid petition canvassers.

By law, ballot initiative sponsors must file a statement confirming that each paid canvassers was given a copy of the state’s initiative and referenda handbook as well as an explanation of relevant state laws before he or she solicited petition signatures. The sponsors backing the abortion measure failed to file this specific documentation when they submitted the petitions for the abortion amendment. That prompted the Secretary of State to reject all of the petitions.

Arkansans for Limited Government filed a lawsuit claiming Secretary of State Thurston unlawfully rejected its petitions. Both sides have submitted arguments in court since then. Officials with the Arkansas Secretary of State also have provided testimony to the court confirming their office counted 87,675 abortion amendment signatures collected by volunteers. That is 3,029 fewer than necessary to qualify for the ballot.

In addition to the briefs submitted last Friday, the Arkansas Supreme Court has asked the Secretary of State and Arkansans for Limited Government to file additional briefs with the court this week — meaning this case may not be decided until at least mid-August.

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

READ MORE