Key Takeaways From 8th Circuit Decision Letting Arkansas Prohibit Hemp

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Last week a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision effectively letting Arkansas restrict dangerous drugs made from industrial hemp.

In 2018, Congress passed the federal Farm Bill to let farmers grow cannabis plants low in THC for use in textiles like hemp rope or cloth.

THC is the main psychoactive substance in marijuana, and health experts warn the drug poses serious risks.

Instead of growing hemp for textiles, manufacturers have found ways to extract and refine the little bit of THC in the plants. Doing this on a commercial scale means they can produce a lot of THC to infuse into drinks, candies, e-cigarettes, and other products.

In response, many state and federal policymakers have pushed back against these dangerous drugs.

For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that federal law prohibits hemp-derived THC in food products.

Massachusetts, South Dakota, California, and many other states have successfully prohibited food, drinks, and other products that contain THC made from hemp.

In 2023, Arkansas passed Act 629 by Sen. Tyler Dees (R – Siloam Springs) and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway (R – Paragould) to prohibit THC made from industrial hemp. Family Council supported that good law, and the legislature voted to pass it.

However, members of the hemp industry filed a lawsuit against Act 629, and the law has been tied up in federal court — that is, until last week.

The court ruled that the federal Farm Bill does not force Arkansas to legalize drugs made from hemp, noting:

The text of the 2018 Farm Bill shows only that Congress wanted to facilitate state legalization of hemp, if a state wants to. Congress allows states to legalize hemp by removing the biggest hurdle—federal criminalization. . . . Instead, just because states may legalize hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill does not mean they must.

The ruling overturned a lower court decision that blocked Act 629 — which means Arkansas will be able to enforce this good law.

In a statement, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin called the decision “a win for common sense and the rule of law.” We could not agree more.

Family Council fully supported Act 629 in 2023. For the past two years, we have said that Act 629 is a good law and that our federal courts ultimately would let the state enforce it. Last week’s victory at the Eighth Circuit was exactly the decision we have expected.

We appreciate Arkansas’s lawmakers passing Act 629, and we appreciate Attorney General Tim Griffin’s commitment to defending this good law in court.

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

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Shielded from Justice: Abortionists Hide Behind State Laws

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Above: Planned Parenthood’s abortion facility in Southeast Kansas has been shown to market abortion to women in Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.

Last week the Associated Press reported how pro-abortion “shield laws” help abortionists in other states violate pro-life laws in states like Arkansas.

In 2022 the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade — effectively letting Arkansas prohibit abortion except to save the life of the mother. State law prohibits abortion drugs from being mailed or delivered into Arkansas. However, some states — like New York and Massachusetts — have enacted “shield laws” that protect abortionists who send abortion drugs across state lines. If an abortionist in one of these states mails abortion drugs to Arkansas, the state’s “shield law” prevents the abortionist from being prosecuted.

The A.P. writes,

Dr. Margaret Carpenter faces a felony charge in Louisiana for supplying abortion medication through the mail to a pregnant teen in that state. The patient’s mother also faces criminal charges. A Texas judge fined the same physician $100,000 after the state accused her of prescribing abortion medication for a woman near Dallas.

So far, the prosecution hasn’t progressed thanks to New York’s shield law, which has protected Carpenter from extradition to Louisiana. But other telehealth centers operating in states with similar legal protections for abortion providers are watching closely.

Abortion drugs don’t just kill unborn children. They also harm women. 

A recent study by the experts at the Ethics and Public Policy Center shows abortion drugs are at least 22 times more dangerous than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration labeling indicates.

The study — which relied on all-payer insurance claims data from 2017 to 2023 — found nearly one in nine women suffered serious health complications like sepsis, infection, and hemorrhaging as a direct result of the abortion drugs.

Abortion drugs simply should not be for sale in America — and abortionists certainly should not be free to mail them across state lines.

Last year Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin issued cease-and-desist letters to New York companies advertising abortion pills in Arkansas in violation of Arkansas law. The A.G.’s office later reported that the advertisements for abortion pills stopped as a result of their cease-and-desist. As we said at the time, that is good news — but it is clear that more work needs to be done to stop these dangerous drugs.

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

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Church Ambassador Network of Arkansas Connects with Leaders at SBC

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Last week, the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Dallas, Texas. Over ten thousand messengers represented their churches at the Convention to commission missionaries, vote, and fellowship with fellow believers.

You can read about some of the notable resolutions that were passed here.

The Church Ambassador Network of Texas had a booth in the exhibit hall, where Cade Daniel from our team represented Arkansas alongside Church Ambassador staff from Iowa. Collectively, we interacted with hundreds of attendees including many pastors from Arkansas.

Many Americans do not fully appreciate how much churches do for their communities. Nationwide, researchers estimate that churches, ministries, and religious charities provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of services every year.

Our Arkansas Church Ambassador Network currently has about 400 churches in it. In the coming months, we want to help elected officials and churches work together to address issues like foster care, fatherless homes, addiction, and human trafficking in Arkansas.

If you help lead a church or similar ministry in Arkansas, we would invite you to join the Church Ambassador Network for free today.

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

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