An Arkansas campaign seeking to expand the state’s medical marijuana law and create a trigger for the legalization of recreational marijuana has submitted well more than enough signatures to put their measure to a vote this November.
In July, Arkansans for Patient Access (APA) submitted 111,402 signatures for their initiative, with signatures spread across 62 counties. Although this was above the 90,704 signatures required across 50 counties in order to make the November Ballot, the state said that not enough of the signatures were valid. This gave APA 30 days to collect an additional 11,000 signatures.
Today, the group submitted nearly 40,000 additional signatures, bringing the total to around 150,000. This all but guarantees the initiative will be placed on the November 5 ballot, given less than half of the signatures need to be valid for the group to reach their goal.
The measure would expand the state’s medical marijuana law, passed in 2016, to allow patients to grow their own marijuana at a private residence, with the limit set at seven mature plants and seven immature plants, and it would remove the retail prohibition on certain smokeable marijuana products such as pre-rolls.
The initiative would also:
- Allow medical marijuana assessments and renewals to be conducted via telehealth.
- Allow out-of-state patients to receive protections under the state’s medical marijuana law.
- Expand new patient cards to last three years rather than one.
- Allow physician assistants, nurse practitioners and pharmacists to recommend medical marijuana in addition to physicians.
- Allow the above list of healthcare professions to recommend medical marijuana for any condition they deem appropriate, rather than having to follow the current list of qualifying conditions.
The initiative would also legalize recreational marijuana, with the possession limit set at one ounce, if the federal government deschedules marijuana.
