The Arkansas Supreme Court made a decision on Monday that voters will not have a chance to vote on a ballot measure to expand medical marijuana in the state. They argued that the initiative did not fully explain what it entails. The court threw out the initiative in a 4-3 decision just two weeks before the election. Even though it is too late to remove the measure from the ballot as early voting has already started, the court instructed election officials not to count any votes on the initiative.
The proposed constitutional amendment aimed to expand the definition of medical professionals who can certify patients for medical cannabis, add qualifying conditions, and make medical cannabis cards valid for three years. However, the court ruled that the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 did not provide voters with all the necessary information. They stated that the initiative did not inform voters that it would have removed the authority of the state Legislature to change the 2016 constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in the state.
Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the majority opinion that the decision to doom the proposed ballot title was plainly misleading. The court also mentioned that the initiative did not make it clear to voters that the amendment would legalize up to an ounce of marijuana possession for any purpose if marijuana were to be legalized at the federal level.
Despite the organizers of the initiative arguing that the ballot measure did cite the number of provisions that would be repealed, the court ruled against them. Justice Cody Hiland dissented, stating that the court was ignoring decades-long precedent by ruling the measure’s language was misleading. The court also rejected election officials’ reasons for ruling that the measure’s organizers had not gathered enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot.
Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, expressed deep disappointment in the Court’s decision, stating that politics seemed to have triumphed over legal precedent. The group had filed a lawsuit after Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston claimed they had fallen short of the required signatures. The issue over the ballot measure’s language was raised by Protect Arkansas Kids, a group that opposed the measure and intervened in the case.
The court’s decision to not allow the ballot measure to proceed has sparked controversy among different groups in the state. The Family Council Action Committee announced plans to launch a statewide tour opposing the measure, stating that “a measure this bad simply has no business being on the ballot or in the constitution.” With about half of U.S. states allowing recreational marijuana and a dozen more legalizing medical marijuana, the issue continues to be a topic of debate across the country. In November, voters in Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota will decide on legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, while two measures on medical marijuana will be on the ballots in Nebraska.
