Tag: Marijuana

Pro-Marijuana Group Sues Secretary of State, Asks Supreme Court to Place Amendment on Ballot

On Tuesday, sponsors of marijuana amendment Issue 3 filed a lawsuit asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to place Issue 3 on the November ballot.

Earlier this week the Arkansas Secretary of State announced that Issue 3’s sponsors failed to meet the legal requirements to place the measure on the ballot. This lawsuit means the Arkansas Supreme Court will have the final say over whether the measure will be voted on.

Issue 3 would make more than 30 changes to Arkansas’ constitution. Among other things, the amendment would give a handful of businesses a monopoly over marijuana in Arkansas, and it would remove restrictions that protect children from marijuana marketing.

Under this measure, 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 amendment also would give free marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents who come to Arkansas to use marijuana.

On Tuesday, Issue 3’s sponsors asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to overturn the Secretary of State’s determination that they failed to comply with state law and place Issue 3 on the November ballot.

The legal challenge alleges, “[The] Secretary of State refused to count thousands of signatures of Arkansas voters. Had those signatures been counted, the Amendment would have been certified. The Secretary . . . should be compelled to count and verify the signatures of Arkansas voters that he wrongly disregarded.”

The Secretary of State reportedly did not count the signatures, because the measure’s sponsors failed to comply with state law concerning petition canvassing.

Attorneys for the group Protect Arkansas Kids also filed a motion to intervene in the lawsuit on Tuesday.

Protect Arkansas Kids is one of the organizations that opposes Issue 3. Intervening in the lawsuit could give the group an opportunity to work against the marijuana measure in court.

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

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Marijuana Amendment Fails to Qualify for November Ballot for Now

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 30, 2024

On Monday Secretary of State John Thurston’s office announced that the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 failed to qualify for the November ballot.

Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox issued a statement, saying, “This is a good decision, but it’s not the final decision. Every effort to amend the state’s most important governing document, our constitution, must go through a rigorous and thorough process. The bar should be high, and any effort that doesn’t meet it shouldn’t make the ballot. Secretary of State Thurston made the right call.”

Cox went on to say, “This marijuana amendment is a fatally flawed effort to bring recreational marijuana to Arkansas. It would make more than 30 changes to Arkansas’ constitution. This amendment would give a handful of businesses a monopoly over an unregulated marijuana industry, and it would remove important restrictions that protect children from marijuana marketing. A measure this bad simply has no business being on the ballot.”

Cox said Family Council Action Committee will continue opposing the amendment in case the Arkansas Supreme Court decides to put the measure back on the ballot. “The final decision over this measure will rest with the state supreme court. Big businesses have spent nearly two million dollars working to place this marijuana amendment on the ballot. We expect them to ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to overrule the Secretary of State’s decision. We plan to continue fighting Issue 3 in case the court decides to place it back on the ballot.”

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