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

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.”

Read more about SAM Arkansas’ work here.

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Arkansas House Passes School Choice Measure

Legislation,

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.

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Good Bill Filed Addressing Consent, Date Rape in Arkansas Code

Legislation,

A new bill at the Arkansas Legislature would help address consent and date rape in Arkansas code.

H.B. 1141 by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R – Elm Springs) and Sen. Clint Penzo (R – Springdale) clarifies the definitions for “consent” and “forcible compulsion” in Arkansas’ laws regarding sexual offenses.

It also amends Arkansas code concerning sexual assault of a person who is incapacitated by drugs or alcohol to make it clear that it does not matter if the person consumed the drugs or alcohol willingly.

In practice, this will help clarify Arkansas’ laws concerning date rape.

H.B. 1141 also amends Arkansas’ laws concerning child molestation, sexual assault, and incest to say that perpetrators can be prosecuted regardless of whether or not their victims consented to the sexual conduct. This will help keep certain sexual predators from evading prosecution.

This is an issue that Family Council has worked on for many years. In 2001 we supported passage of Act 1534 that made it illegal to manufacture or possess gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a designer drug linked to date rape.

Legislation like H.B. 1141 helps further strengthen Arkansas’ laws to stop sexual predators who target their victims with drugs or alcohol.

You Can Read H.B. 1141 Here.

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