Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act certification
Courtesy
A proposal to legalize marijuana in Arkansas for medicinal purposes will appear on the ballot in the Nov. 6 general election.
Arkansas for Compassionate Care, a group that has been petitioning for the measure, submitted the required 62,507 signatures needed to place the proposal on the ballot, and the office of Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin certified the signatures Wednesday.
The group turned in over 65,000 signatures more than a month ago, but nearly 29,000 signatures were declared invalid, and thrown out by the secretary of state’s office. Organizers, however, had an extra 30 days to make up for the invalid names, and statewide efforts to collect the additional needed signatures were successful.
“Compassionate Care is an important issue for thousands of Arkansans and their families,” said Melissa Fults, treasurer for Arkansans for Compassionate Care. “This is something the people of Arkansas want to discuss. We’ve always been a leader in the South and now we’re the first one to put medical marijuana on the ballot and have a real discussion about it.”
If voters approve the act, Arkansas will join 17 other states and Washington D.C. in allowing doctors to write recommendations for marijuana to alleviate specified medical conditions. The Arkansas act is largely based on the medical marijuana law in Maine that passed in 2009.
The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act lists 15 specific chronic or life-threatening medical conditions for which marijuana could be recommended by a doctor: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Tourette Syndrome, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, post-traumatic stress disorder, fibromyalgia and Alzheimer’s.
Only patients authorized by the Arkansas Department of Health would be allowed to purchase, carry and consume marijuana. The act limits the number of dispensaries statewide and requires all of them to be non-profit. Cities and counties that choose to do so would be allowed to ban dispensaries altogether.
Support 100%. Lets get this done.
Soon arkansas will lead the nation in glaucoma diagnoses.
Nice one Dave. lol.
yeah it’s nice to joke about physical ailments
I know, and it’s bad to joke about airline food because people have gotten sick from that. And, I don’t think we should be making jokes about chickens crossing the road because that could lead to highway accidents that could, again, cause physical ailments.
Lighten up, Francis.
Light up?
Just think it’s funny enough people might go blind ’cause a herbal remedy is illegal.
Jeez, I’m glad I didn’t make that hilarious tourettes joke I thought up PISS OUT MY ASS.
Dang it…
Finally! Vote “Yes” for Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act! This will help alot of people and it will slightly reduce the power of the industrial medical complex. Two birds, one stone.
Please get everyone to support this!!!
I will vote no on this, like most of the state will. I have seen “weed” destroy fiends way to Many times, so much potential wasted.
As will most every other hypocritical “freedom loving” conservative…
Were any of these way too many friends killed as a result of their use of marijuana, or were they destroyed in lesser ways? Isn’t it at least as likely that they would have been destroyed by alcohol or cigarettes, had they chosen that route? I suspect that way too many of your friends had/have addictive personalities, and would have been destroyed by whatever they delved into. I have many friends who have used marijuana with no adverse effects at all. (I won’t say “way too many”, because one cannot have too many friends.)
I’ve never seen weed “destroy” anyone. I have seen legal prescription meds screw up a lot of lives and even end some. Marijuana is not addictive. Pain pills and xanax are.
Could I ask you to reserve judgement until you’ve seen some of the patients who’ve had their lives saved by “weed?”
This law isn’t like California’s, under which you can get a prescription for pretty much anything. This is about providing access to life-saving medication to sick and dying patients.
Bryant, I assume you want to outlaw all pain meds? I’m sorry that you have seen people destroyed by “weed” but it still does a lot of good for people who have unmanageable pain and terminally ill patients as well as many other diseases.
My aunt had stomach cancer and the only thing that subsided the exhausting pain was pot. It also gave her an appetite when it was impossible. It basically kept her alive for 8 months when the doctors told her she would not make it more than 2.
I understand your concern, but legalizing medical marijuana isn’t going to stop people from smoking recreationally. It won’t be available at Walmart. It will be the same as getting a prescription for cough syrup. The doc calls it in and you go pick it up. It’s kind of stupid that the voters have to vote, should already be approved via the FDA.
I hope you reconsider….the extra time we spent with my aunt was worth every risk we took to buy it illegally….we would appreciate it.
This perspective seems all too close to the one expressed by a “young college Republican” on TV last night. Perhaps its the same person. Anyway, the perspective is one of a person who doesn’t understand marijuana, and who does what he is told…just because.
Seriously, alcohol and other substances that are currently legal and available by prescription require medically-assisted detox in addiction cases. Marijuana is extremely mild by comparison. It isn’t physically addictive. It doesn’t destroy the body.
I can’t see how any rational-minded person that read these comments without bias would still vote no on this. Unless, like Glutenfree says, they’re doing what they’re told just because.
Children die as a result of ingesting pain pills and other prescription meds every year, yet we deem the benefits of having those medicines available worth the risk. Marijuana doesn’t kill people. Marijuana doesn’t put people into addiction recovery treatment. Its really pretty absurd to deny a viable medicinal substance based on outdated fear-based laws.
But haven’t you seen Reefer Madness? I heard it drives people to murder.
Well , if they were ” fiends” than that is kinda a separate issue altogether. Fiend is defined as an evil spirit or the devil, which would predispose one to ruin anyway, so I don’t think “weed” is to blame.
Ahhhhh the state is full of fiends who have been destroyed by pot!!!
@Parking for Pot I don’t think you have any idea what you are talking about. Are you just trying to stir up a reaction….tisk tisk tisk
Driven to ruin by the nefarious WAC parking arrangement, no doubt. “How a Mellow Town was Harshed”, a twisted tale of Parking Fines and Pot Fiends.
Yeah, well, like, that’s just your opinion, man.
http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/alcohol/en/index.html
Brant, do you occasional enjoy sipping on any alcoholic beverages? It appears that alcohol abuse and misuse is one of the biggest problems in the world (See W.H.O. report). Maybe we should outlaw alcohol consumption. Oh, yeah, prohibition will never and has never worked.
Where are all of the deaths attributed to marijuana use? I am certain that, like alcohol and pharmaceuticals, there are many cases of DUI related fatalities. And I am certain that black market activities caused some untimely deaths but marijuana use hasn’t killed anyone. I challenge you to find anyone who has ever overdosed on marijuana.
In the world of drugs, pharmaceutical and natural, weed is probably one of the least harmful and one of the most helpful.
I don’t really care whether it is legalized or not. But weed “one of the most helpful” in the world of drugs? Ever heard of Penicillin, Aspirin, Cardiac meds, Insulin, Birth Control, and many more? Again I am fine with it being legalized but it drives me crazy that proponents act like it is the most important medical decision of our time and God’s greatest gift to mankind, because it is not. It would kind of make me happy if it does pass just so I don’t have to be accosted by the petitioners anymore at every community event.
I think the fact that marijuana has been demonstrated to relieve pain and suffering when other drugs fail makes it a pretty important substance.
I think the fact that marijuana often is the ONLY solution to nausea and lack of appetite suffered by chemotherapy patients makes it pretty remarkable.
It actually has saved and extended lives. That makes it better than many harsher, legal substances which are easily available at pharmacies.
A lot of people get fired up about this issue because it would represent a rather enlightened triumph of reason over fear, and that happens with less and less frequency these days.
JR, do you understand what “one of the most” means? It is different from “the most.” I assume that the majority of marijuana proponents also consider penicillin, and each of the others you listed, as “one of the most” helpful in the world of drugs.
I didn’t want to take up room to list hundreds of medications. I don’t consider it “one of the most helpful” in the world of drugs. Maybe one of the most for the handful of things it helps with but not when considered with every drug that exists.
It’s the only drug I’ve ever heard of that won’t kill the patient. Advil kills over 800 people a year. Cannabis has a variety of uses and it seems to make everyone “feel” better, that is the point of most medications, they don’t cure anything, they just make you feel better. Take the pain away, suppress the cough, get rid of those cramps, or stop your anxiety. The point is, if it isn’t killing people they should be able to use it. Name another drug you can grow in your yard that can help with serious cancer? Name another pain medication that won’t kill you? Name another drug that has been proven to shrink cancerous tumors in lab rats? There are hundreds of things we don’t know about this drug, but a few things are clear. It’s damn safe and it gives you the giggles. That’s hardly the end of the world.
JR,
Sadly, we have only scratched the surface of finding out what cannabis may be able to do for us, medically. The scheduling system and social stigma has made it ridiculously difficult for American researchers to perform even basic research. I think that precious little focus has been aimed at this matter. I would be thrilled if the plant was descheduled to a point where we could find out more about it.
“fiends”… Lol. Welcome to 1935.
I’ll vote no, but not because pot turns you into a ‘fiend’. This is an intellectually dishonest end-run by the marijuana community to ‘sneak it in’. I wouldn’t vote for second-class civil unions for gays, and I won’t vote for second-class legality. Arkansas almost leads the nation in pill-seeking doctor shopping, and this is going to clog every single general practitioner with baby boomers screaming that they need THEIR MEDS.
Speaking of boomers, isn’t the timing curious? They all grew up smoking doobies in the sixties and seventies, then when they had kids we got 30 years of DARE and “Just Say No” (both of which have been proven to have been not only unhelpful, but harmful). Then when they all hit retirement age and get their aches and pains, suddenly pot is the coolest kid on the block again.
It took over a decade for Arkansas to get this far. Don’t vote no just because it’s not far enough. Momentum is gaining across the nation. Let’s be a part of that.
Some baby boomers are afflicted with cancer and are suffering from the effects of radiation, chemotherapy and post-surgical complications. Are you going to deny them the undeniable benefits of marijuana because you sense intellectual dishonesty? Because they are baby boomers? With all respect, you’ve over thought the issue. Please support the measure for the sake of our suffering loved ones.
RE “we got 30 years of DARE and ‘Just Say No’”
Those programs were initiated and popularized by the generation before the baby boomers. They are not, as you imply, examples of baby boomer hypocrisy.
Cannabis has been shown to shrink cancerous tumors in lab animals. It isn’t physically addictive and its the only drug known to man that literally “can’t” kill the patient. Why is it illegal again? Oh that’s right, “reefer madness”….
It’s illegal because anyone can grow it, which means Big Pharma has major competition. Duh.
Exactly.
if this does pass the amount of drug tests will go through the roof, cause it does NOT matter if you have a card or not if you fail a drug test for work you WILL be canned because its still illegal in the U.S. and the federal laws trump the state laws, the feds are really cracking down on states that has already passed a similar bill
What is the logic behind that prediction? Is there any evidence that random drug testing has increased in the 17 or so other states where similar laws have passed? I feel like this is fear-mongering.
no, but there’s evidence that mandatory drug testing will help you keep poors and browns out of your workplace. Which is what it’s used for. An unnamed local company I worked at for over seven years curiously started drug testing when they had their first African-American applicant in several years.
Carter, that may be true… but I think most of us know there is an extremely easy way around passing a drug test when it comes to marijuana…
Dylan, how does one easily pass a drug test for marijuana. I’m just asking for a friend….
Stop smoking? It’s pretty easy to do…
That doesn’t work for all tests. The stuff gets into your hair, man.
I’m really diggin’ Jello.
I’ve never once been given anything other than a standard urine test. Yes, let’s just tell all the people treating their ailments to stop smoking, and let’s tell the rest of the population to quit drinking their morning coffee.