Articles and Videos – Page 232

Anti-Marijuana Group Opens in Arkansas, Opposes S.J.R. 13

Mar 3, 2023Jerry CoxMarijuanaArkansas Legislature, Marijuana

The group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) announced this week that it is launching operations in Arkansas.

SAM Arkansas’ website — samarkansas.com — offers Arkansans information about problems associated with marijuana, including:

The link between marijuana use and mental illness
The power that wealthy cannabis companies wield
The rising THC levels found in today’s marijuana

The SAM Arkansas strongly opposes S.J.R. 13 — a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana in Arkansas — posting the following statement:

“Arkansans sent a clear message in 2022: they don’t want marijuana in their state. They recognized that legalization is nothing more than a way for rich investors to profit off of an addiction-for-profit model targeted at our kids. There is no appetite for yet another ballot measure trying to legalize marijuana in Arkansas,” said Luke Niforatos, Executive Vice President of SAM Action. “The home grow provisions of this bill are dangerous, too. Legalizing home grow only invites drug cartels into the state. Cartels can cut trafficking costs by producing marijuana in-state, putting the safety of Arkansans at serious risk.

“SJR 13 is an industry bill that, if passed, will hurt Arkansans. The voters of Arkansas already had to vote on the health and safety of their children last year when legalization was on the ballot. They should not have to do so again.”

Arkansas House Passes School Choice Measure

Mar 2, 2023Jerry CoxLegislationArkansas Legislature, School Choice

On Thursday the Arkansas House of Representatives passed the LEARNS Act, S.B. 294.

The LEARNS Act is an omnibus education measure that Gov. Sanders and members of the General Assembly filed last week.

The bill already has passed in the Arkansas Senate.

Among other things, the bill:

Creates a framework that the State Board of Education will use to implement school choice in Arkansas between now and 2025.
Overhauls Arkansas law concerning hiring, paying, and dismissing teachers at public schools.
Requires the Arkansas Secretary of Education to review all policies to be sure that indoctrination — including critical race theory — is prohibited and that no public school employee or public school student is required to attend training or orientation that is based on critical race theory or other prohibited indoctrination.
Requires child sex abuse and human trafficking curriculum to be incorporated into the Department of Education’s standards for Health and Safety and Physical Education standards.
Prohibits sexual material in classroom instruction before fifth grade.
Extensively delegates authority to the State Board of Education.

The LEARNS Act would give families the option of using state dollars to educate their children at a public or private school or at home, and it would address inappropriate material in public schools.

Family Council and our homeschool division the Education Alliance support the LEARNS Act.

We have always supported school choice, and this is what the act provides.

The LEARNS Act provides another choice for homeschool families.

Some will choose to remain as they are with no funding and no additional regulation. Others may choose to accept the funding and, with it, whatever requirements are established under the LEARNS Act.

It should be a matter for each family to determine which form of education is best for their child.

We are pleased that Governor Sanders has provided another choice for home school families and that she is seeking to improve education in numerous ways.

Video: Pro-Abortion Group Parks Mobile Billboard at Arkansas Pregnancy Center

Mar 2, 2023Jerry CoxAbortionAbortion, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life, Video

*Above: A pro-lifer asks the driver of a mobile pro-abortion billboard to leave the parking lot at a central Arkansas pregnancy resource center.*

On Wednesday a mobile, digital billboard advertising abortion brazenly parked in front of a pregnancy resource center in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

The pro-abortion message advertised “abortion pills delivered to your door” and listed a link to a website that promotes “at-home abortion.”

Abortion is prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, and under the state’s Abortion Inducing Drugs Safety Act, it is a crime to provide abortion pills via courier, delivery, or mail service in Arkansas.

In other words, the billboard’s advertisement promotes illegal activity.

The pro-abortion billboard appears to be sponsored by the organization Mayday, a group that tells people how to order abortion pills online and have them delivered via mail forwarding services.

It appears the mobile billboard did not remain at the pregnancy resource center very long. The vehicle drove away after pro-lifers asked the driver to leave.

This is not the first time that a group has promoted abortion pills by mail in Arkansas.

Last December Family Council wrote about the Arkansas Abortion Support Network’s decision to post information on its website telling women how to order abortion drugs online.

Abortion-inducing drugs take the life of an unborn child, and they carry significant health risks for women — including risk of sepsis and death.

Delivering abortion drugs by mail violates Arkansas law. It also puts women and unborn children at serious risk.

There simply is no excuse for promoting so-called “at-home abortions” like this.

Below is video footage of the pro-abortion billboard.