Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) on Tuesday approved a ballot initiative seeking to improve medical cannabis access in the state, the Arkansas Advocate reports. The initiative would also set up a trigger law that would legalize adult-use cannabis if cannabis possession were to be decriminalized at the federal level.
The attorney general had previously rejected the ballot initiative proposal after noting issues with its formatting and ambiguity, but advocates were given time to rework the initiative and resubmit it for consideration for the 2024 ballot. Ultimately, only minor changes in wording were made, the report said.
with attorney general’s approval, advocates must submit 90,704 valid voter signatures supporting the measure by July 5 to qualify for November’s ballot.
“We are confident that Arkansans will respond positively and ultimately vote for the proposed amendment because it will reduce barriers to obtaining a medical marijuana card, eliminate the annual renewal hassle and give patients more product choices.” — Bill Paschall, Executive Director of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association, via the Arkansas Advocate
In addition to the changes described above, the proposal would also let registered patients grow cannabis at home, let health providers other than doctors recommend patients for the program, and allow such providers to certify anyone they see fit for the state’s medical cannabis program. The program would also be expanded to allow telemedicine referrals, recognize out-of-state medical cannabis patient IDs, increase the registration period from one to three years, and remove program application fees for patients.
The proposal, which is now called the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024, is supported by the state’s medical cannabis industry.
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