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The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered the secretary of state\u2019s office to certify a marijuana legalization initiative for the November ballot\u2014but there\u2019s a chance that the votes will not end up being counted, depending on the final outcome of a pending legal challenge.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, justices on the state\u2019s highest court granted Responsible Growth Arkansas\u2019s motions to expedite the case and for a preliminary injunction that will force the secretary of state\u2019s office to certify the reform measure. The legal dispute centers on the legalization campaign\u2019s effort to overturn the state Board of Election Commissioners\u2019s ruling that the measure\u2019s ballot title is misleading.<\/p>\n
What this means is that voters will<\/em> see legalization on the ballot. But if the court ultimately sides with state officials on the merits of the challenge following certification, the votes on the initiative would not be counted.<\/p>\n Justices laid out a timeline for next steps in the case. First, the secretary of state will need to file a response to the petitioners\u2019 original complaint by August 16. Petitioners will then have until August 23 to file a response brief. A subsequent respondents\u2019 brief is due August 30. And finally, petitioner\u2019s reply brief to that must come by September 2.<\/p>\n That takes the case schedule beyond the secretary of state\u2019s August 25 deadline to certify amendments for the ballot to county officials, hence the need for the temporary injunction.<\/p>\n The preliminary action \u201cwas exactly what we asked for, and we were very pleased by the court\u2019s rulings,\u201d a spokesperson for Responsible Growth Arkansas told Marijuana Moment on Thursday.<\/p>\n State officials, for their part, had urged the court not to grant the injunction, saying in a brief that it would be \u201cmanifestly unfair\u201d to put the measure on the ballot before the legal challenge is resolved.<\/p>\n \u201cVoters should not be unnecessarily confused by being faced with a ballot measure, the votes for which will not be ultimately counted,\u201d they argued.<\/p>\n While the justices\u2019 decision<\/a> to grant the motion to expedite and preliminary injunction was a best case scenario for the campaign in the short-term, however, it doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect where the court will come down on the overall case, as neither party has made its merit-based arguments yet.<\/p>\n Responsible Growth Arkansas says it is confident it will prevail and that the court-mandated certification will be followed by a final judgment that the ballot language is not misleading.<\/p>\n The campaign\u00a0submitted about 193,000 signatures<\/a>\u2014more than double what\u2019s required to qualify the constitutional amendment\u2014earlier this month. The secretary of state\u2019s office later announced that it had processed enough petitions to confirm that there were sufficient signatures<\/a> for ballot placement.<\/p>\n But as activists anticipated, the election board voted a motion not to certify, in part because they felt provisions of the popular name and ballot title did not effectively inform voters about issues like THC limits. That\u2019s what prompted the lawsuit filed with the state Supreme Court<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n The campaign said in its complaint that the Board of Election Commissioners were \u201cthwarting of the will of the people and their right to adopt laws by initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat \u2018power lies at the heart of our democratic institutions,\u2019\u201d it said. \u201cThe Board has attacked that heart through its incorrect rejection of the ballot title.\u201d<\/p>\n The suit says officials violated the state constitution and ignored prior Supreme Court precedent, \u201cchoosing instead to apply an overly stringent approach that denied the wishes of hundreds of thousands of Arkansans to have the opportunity to vote on the Amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R)\u2014a former Drug Enforcement Administration head\u2014suggested it was a given that the measure would end up before voters and urged police to help campaign against it<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what the campaign\u2019s marijuana legalization\u00a0initiative<\/a>\u00a0would accomplish:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n -Adults 21 and older could purchase and possess up to one ounce of cannabis from licensed retailers.<\/p>\n -Home cultivation would not be allowed.<\/p>\n -The measure would make a series of changes to the state\u2019s existing medical cannabis program that was approved by voters in 2016, including a repeal of residency requirements to qualify as a patient in the state.<\/p>\n -The state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Division of the Department of Finance and Administration would be responsible for regulating the program and issuing cannabis business licenses.<\/p>\n -Regulators would need to license existing medical cannabis dispensaries to also serve adult consumers, and also permit them to open another retail location for recreational marijuana sales only. A lottery system would award licenses for 40 additional adult-use retailers.<\/p>\n -There are no provisions to expunge or seal past criminal records for marijuana or to provide specific social equity licensing opportunities for people from communities harmed by the war on drugs.<\/p>\n -The state could impose up to a 10 percent supplemental tax on recreational cannabis sales, in addition to the existing state and local sales tax.<\/p>\n -Tax revenue would be divided up between law enforcement (15 percent), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (10 percent) and the state drug court program (five percent). The remaining revenue would go to the state general fund.<\/p>\n -People who own less than five percent of a marijuana businesses would no longer be subject to background checks.<\/p>\n -The legislature could not repeal of amend the state\u2019s medical marijuana statutes without voter approval.<\/p>\n -Local governments could hold elections to prohibit adult-use retailers in their jurisdiction if voters approve the decision.<\/p>\n -Individuals could now own stake in more than 18 dispensaries.<\/p>\n -There would be advertising and packaging restrictions, including a requirement that marijuana products must be sold in tamper-resistant packages.<\/p>\n -Dispensaries would be able to cultivate and store up to 100 seedings, instead of 50 as prescribed under the current medical cannabis law.<\/p>\n A former Arkansas Democratic House minority leader, Eddie Armstrong, is behind the Responsible Growth Arkansas constitutional amendment,\u00a0which he filed in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n The group is\u00a0just one of several campaigns<\/a>\u00a0that have\u00a0pursued cannabis reform through the ballot<\/a>\u00a0this year, though backers of competing initiatives have since acknowledged they wouldn\u2019t be able to collect enough signatures to qualify this year.<\/p>\n \u2014 Supporters of the separate campaigns, Arkansas True Grass and Arkansans for Marijuana Reform, have raised concerns with the provisions of the Responsible Growth Arkansas initiative, suggesting it would favor big businesses in the existing medical cannabis industry. Some have said they may look to 2024 to try again with their own approaches.<\/p>\n Stephen Lancaster, a spokesperson for Responsible Growth Arkansas, previously told Marijuana Moment that the campaign hopes that won\u2019t be necessary. His campaign feels that the constitutional amendment provides a sound infrastructure for reform that prioritizes regulations\u2014and the plan is to push for further reforms in the legislature if voters approve legalization at the polls. That would include efforts to promote expungements, which isn\u2019t addressed by the initiative.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0a poll released in February found<\/a>\u00a0that 54 percent of Arkansans favor full adult-use legalization, compared to 32 percent who said it should be legal for medical use only and just around 11 percent who said it should be outright illegal.<\/p>\n Arkansas is also not the only state where voters could see drug policy reform measures on their November ballots:<\/strong><\/p>\n Maryland elections officials recently finalized the language for a marijuana legalization referendum<\/a> that lawmakers placed on the November ballot, and have issued a formal summary of the reform proposal.<\/p>\n This month, the Oklahoma attorney general revised the ballot title of a marijuana legalization initiative<\/a> that activists hope will be certified to go before the state\u2019s voters, making mostly technical changes that the campaign views as satisfactory.<\/p>\n Missouri\u2019s secretary of state certified that activists turned in more than enough signatures to\u00a0qualify a marijuana legalization initiative for the November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colorado voters will have the chance to\u00a0decide on a historic ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0this November to legalize psychedelics and create licensed psilocybin \u201chealing centers\u201d where people can use the substance for therapeutic purposes.<\/p>\n South Dakota officials certified that activists\u00a0turned in a sufficient number of signatures<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0qualify a marijuana legalization measure for the November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n North Dakota activists turned in what they believe to be enough signatures to\u00a0place a marijuana legalization initiative before voters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nebraska advocates recently submitted signatures for a\u00a0pair of medical cannabis legalization initiatives<\/a>. The campaign has faced several challenges along the way, including the loss of critical funding after a key donor passed away and a\u00a0court battle of the state\u2019s geographic requirements<\/a>\u00a0for ballot petitions.<\/p>\n An initiative to legalize marijuana\u00a0will not appear on Ohio\u2019s November ballot<\/a>, the campaign behind the measure announced in May. But activists did reach a settlement with state officials in a legal challenge that will give them a chance to hit the ground running in 2023.<\/p>\n Michigan activists announced in June that they will no longer be pursuing\u00a0a statewide psychedelics legalization ballot initiative<\/a>\u00a0for this year\u2019s election and will instead focus on qualifying the measure to go before voters in 2024.<\/p>\n The campaign behind an effort to decriminalize drugs and expand treatment and recovery services in Washington State said in June that it has\u00a0halted its push to qualify an initiative<\/a>\u00a0for November\u2019s ballot.<\/p>\n While Wyoming activists said earlier this year that\u00a0they made solid progress in collecting signatures<\/a>\u00a0for a pair of ballot initiatives to decriminalize marijuana possession and legalize medical cannabis,\u00a0they didn\u2019t get enough to make the 2022 ballot deadline<\/a>\u00a0and will be aiming for 2024 while simultaneously pushing the legislature to advance reform even sooner.<\/p>\n In March, California activists announced that they\u00a0came up short on collecting enough signatures<\/a>\u00a0to qualify a measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for the state\u2019s November ballot, though they aren\u2019t giving up on a future election cycle bid.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there are various local reforms that activists want to see voters decide on this November\u2014including local marijuana decriminalization ordinances in\u00a0Ohio<\/a>,\u00a0West Virginia<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Texas<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wisconsin voters in at least half a dozen cities and counties\u00a0will be asked on November\u2019s ballot<\/a>\u00a0whether they support legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol. Those advisory questions will be non-binding, however, and are intended to take the temperature of voters and send a message to lawmakers about where their constituents stand.<\/p>\n Maryland Officials Certify Final Text Of Marijuana Legalization Ballot Question And Provide Summary Ahead Of November Vote<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel<\/a> and Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Arkansas Supreme Court Orders State To Put Marijuana Legalization Initiative On Ballot, But Votes May Not Be Counted<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Arkansas Supreme Court has ordered the secretary of state\u2019s office to certify a marijuana legalization initiative for the November ballot\u2014but there\u2019s a chance that the votes will not end up being counted, depending on the final outcome of a pending legal challenge. On Wednesday, justices on the state\u2019s highestContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":56492,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56491"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56493,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56491\/revisions\/56493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Arkansas Supreme Court Orders State To Put Marijuana Legalization Initiative On Ballot, But Votes May Not Be Counted<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"