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Sarah Huckabee Sanders Issues Statement Against Marijuana Amendment

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.

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Group Launches Statewide Campaign Tour Against Marijuana Legalization

The following is a press release from Family Council Action Committee.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Tuesday Family Council Action Committee announced plans for a statewide campaign opposing marijuana legalization in Arkansas.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “Today we are launching a statewide tour to urge Arkansans to vote against Issue 4. It’s hard to believe an amendment this bad is actually on the ballot in Arkansas. In the next few days our team will hold meetings in twenty-five cities and towns across the state, where we will urge voters not to legalize marijuana in Arkansas. We are also launching a radio campaign against Issue 4, and we plan to equip and mobilize hundreds of churches across Arkansas to oppose the measure.”

Cox said Issue 4’s language is misleading. “The marijuana industry did not write this amendment to help Arkansans. They wrote it to help themselves. If Issue 4 passes, marijuana businesses in Arkansas will be controlled by owners who don’t even live here, and only a fraction of Issue 4’s piddly sales tax will go toward police officers or cancer research. It’s a misleading amendment that repeals and rewrites large parts of the Arkansas Constitution without fully explaining those changes to the voters.”

Cox said he wants Arkansans to understand exactly what Issue 4 would do. “Issue 4 writes an unrestricted marijuana industry into the Arkansas Constitution. City councils and quorum courts will be powerless to regulate it. State lawmakers won’t be able to raise taxes on it. Law enforcement won’t be able to prevent organized crime and drug cartels from purchasing marijuana businesses in Arkansas. We are calling on the people of Arkansas to vote against Issue 4 this November. Our state simply does not need another drug problem.”

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