Marijuana Amendment Fails to Qualify for November Ballot for Now

Marijuana,

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.”

###

READ MORE

Study Links Daily Marijuana Use to Cancers

Marijuana

New research continues to link marijuana use with serious health problems.

A study published last month in JAMA Otolaryngology found daily marijuana use is linked to a higher risk of head and neck cancers.

Researchers analyzed more than 116,000 individuals with cannabis-related disorders and found that they had significantly higher rates of head and neck cancers — particularly in the mouth, throat, and larynx — compared to people who do not use marijuana.

Studies like this have significant implications for Arkansas, where the group Arkansans for Patient Access is working to pass an amendment drastically expanding marijuana in the state.

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 would give free marijuana cards to immigrants and out-of-state residents who come to Arkansas to use marijuana.

The amendment would guarantee marijuana growers and sellers a monopoly over the state’s marijuana industry.

The measure also fails to limit the amount of THC in marijuana products, and it repeals restrictions designed to protect children from marijuana advertising.

All of this would lead to more marijuana use in Arkansas.

Family Council Action Committee has materials available for volunteers and churches regarding the marijuana amendment:

You can learn more at FamilyCouncilActionCommittee.com.

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

READ MORE

Slavery on American Soil: Migrants on Illegal Marijuana Farms

Marijuana

We have written time and again about how marijuana’s legalization in other states has actually emboldened drug cartels and organized crime.

Some of these illegal marijuana operations are tied to labor trafficking and violent crime, and some have connections to foreign interests like the Chinese Communist Party.

Media correspondent Chuck Holton recently released a report highlighting this growing problem of modern day slavery on illegal marijuana farms.

READ MORE