Group Hires Additional Canvassers for Marijuana Amendment Effort

Marijuana

The group promoting a marijuana amendment in Arkansas has hired hundreds of petition canvassers to place their measure on the November ballot, according to documents obtained from the Secretary of State’s office via the Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansans for Patient Access has until July 5 to collect 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters. The group has raised nearly $1 million their amendment campaign this year, according to reports filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission.

State law lets ballot question committees hire Arkansas residents as petition canvassers to collect signatures.

The list obtained via FOIA indicates Arkansans for Limited Government currently has 425 paid canvassers. The group previously employed 381 paid petition canvassers.

The paid canvasser list was first acquired by Family Council Action Committee is available at FamilyCouncilActionCommittee.com.

Among other things, the marijuana amendment fails to limit the amount of THC that marijuana and marijuana products can contain.

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

The amendment lets people grow and use marijuana at home, and it would openly legalize marijuana in Arkansas if federal laws against marijuana are repealed.

The measure also repeals significant restrictions on marijuana advertising in Arkansas.

All of this would lead to more marijuana in Arkansas.

Arkansas voters rejected marijuana legalization at the ballot box in 2022. That amendment was opposed by a broad coalition of churches, business groups, elected officials, and citizens who knew that marijuana would be bad for Arkansas. We anticipate similar opposition to the 2024 marijuana amendment.

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

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Group Hires Additional Canvassers for Abortion Amendment Effort

Abortion, , , ,

The group working to enshrine abortion into the Arkansas Constitution has hired more than 100 paid canvassers to collect signatures for its statewide petition drive, according to public documents obtained from the Secretary of State via the Freedom of Information Act.

Arkansans for Limited Government has until July 5 to collect 90,704 valid signatures from registered voters to place the Arkansas Abortion Amendment on the November ballot.

State law lets ballot question committees hire Arkansas residents as petition canvassers paid to collect signatures.

The list obtained via FOIA indicates Arkansans for Limited Government currently has 119 paid canvassers — most of whom appear to be concentrated in central and northwest Arkansas.

The paid canvasser list was first acquired by Family Council Action Committee is available at FamilyCouncilActionCommittee.com.

If passed, the Arkansas Abortion Amendment would write abortion into the state constitution, allowing thousands of elective abortions in Arkansas every year.

The amendment does not contain any medical licensing or health and safety standards for abortion.

The measure prevents the Arkansas Legislature from restricting abortion during the first five months of pregnancy, and it automatically nullifies all state laws that conflict with the amendment. That jeopardizes even the most basic health and safety restrictions on abortion.

The amendment’s health exceptions would permit abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in many cases.

It also would pave the way for publicly funded abortion in Arkansas by changing Amendment 68 to the Arkansas Constitution that currently prohibits taxpayer funded abortion in the state.

To date, multiple organizations have come out against the amendment, including:

  • Arkansas Right to Life
  • Family Council Action Committee
  • Choose Life Arkansas
  • NWA Coalition for Life
  • The Arkansas Committee For Ethics Policy
  • The Catholic Diocese of Little Rock
  • Saline Decline to Sign
  • Stronger Arkansas
  • Stop Abortion On Demand
  • Students for Life of America

You can download a copy of the abortion amendment here.

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

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Attorney General Griffin Says NY Abortion Center is Complying With Cease-and-Desist Letter

Abortion, , ,

On Thursday Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced a New York abortion facility is complying with a cease-and-desist letter his office recently sent.

The A.G.’s office issued the cease-and-desist letter last month instructing the company to stop advertising abortion pills in Arkansas.

Abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, and state law prohibits abortion drugs from being delivered “via courier, delivery, or mail service” in Arkansas.

The A.G. said Choices Women’s Medical Center has taken steps to stop promoting and providing abortion pills to Arkansans. In a statement, Attorney General Griffin said,

“On May 21, I sent a letter to Choices Women’s Medical Center of New York (Choices) instructing it to cease and desist from using its website to direct Arkansans to abortion pill services, specifically the website’s invitation for Arkansans to take the second round of abortion pills ‘at home’ after being administered the first round at a clinic outside of Arkansas.

“Choices has since removed the problematic language from its website, which resolves this violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (ADTPA). I have sent a letter notifying Choices that the organization has satisfactorily complied with my demand.

“Organizations cannot provide goods and services directly to Arkansans for use within Arkansas in a manner that violates Arkansas law. I will continue to hold organizations accountable for violations of the ADTPA and ensure that Arkansas laws protecting innocent life are followed.”

The A.G.’s office says it will continue to monitor Choices Women’s Medical Center’s website to ensure compliance with Arkansas law.

This is good news. Abortion drugs take the life of an unborn child. They also carry significant health risks for women — including risk of sepsis and death.

Delivering abortion drugs into Arkansas violates state law, and it puts women and unborn children at risk.

Family Council appreciates Attorney General Griffin’s willingness to stand up against pro-abortion companies from out-of-state.

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

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