Arkansas Voters Approve Medical Marijuana (28th state)

[jct74]

Arkansas Voters Approve Medical Marijuana
Twenty-eight states now have laws allowing patients to use cannabis for symptom relief.

Jacob Sullum
Nov. 8, 2016

Today voters in Arkansas said yes to medical marijuana, approving an initiative that doubles the number of Southern states allowing patients to use the drug for symptom relief. With 62 percent of precincts reporting, the medical marijuana initiative, Issue 6, was favored by 52 percent of voters.

Issue 6, which raises the total number of medical marijuana states to 28, allows the use of cannabis by patients with any of 12 specified diseases or with severe nausea, wasting syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, intractable pain, seizures, or muscles spasms caused by "a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment." The initiative authorizes the Arkansas Department of Health to add other medical conditions to the list. Unlike a dueling initiative that was disqualified from the ballot late last month, Issue 6 does not allow home cultivation by patients or caregivers.

Arkansas voters narrowly rejected an earlier medical marijuana initiative in 2012. Issue 6 was opposed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson (a former DEA administrator), Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin, and U.S. Sen. John Boozman, all Republicans. Supporters of the initiative raised nearly four times as much as opponents.

http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/08/arkansas-voters-approve-medical-marijuan

[jct74]

Family Council President Jerry Cox released the following statement after learning the decision of voters:

“This fight is not over. The battle now shifts to the Arkansas Legislature.”

Cox said, “A clever and grossly misleading advertising campaign funded by the marijuana industry deceived enough people into voting for a measure that is recreational marijuana masquerading as medicine. Hundreds of thousands of otherwise healthy people will soon qualify to use marijuana recreationally. It puts our children in harm’s way while a handful of businessmen get rich selling everything from marijuana candy to rolled joints as ‘medicine.’ We plan to fight tooth and nail to protect Arkansans from the consequences of this amendment.”

Cox said, “We have to find a way to mitigate the harm done when tons of so-called ‘medical marijuana’ are injected into our communities, our schools, and the workplace.”

http://www.arkansasmatters.com/news/local-news/projected-medical-marijuana-amendment-approved

[Mach]

Got the Issues mixed up (6/7).... don't know the details, but congrats to Arkansas.

[Slave Mentality]

Go Hogs Go!

[ChristianAnarchist]

Been waiting for either TN, AR, or MS to legalize MJ so I can open a "Willie's Reserve" here near Memphis but it's too early to celebrate... Very few people will qualify and the regs will be quite restrictive. It's a hollow victory but better than nothing I guess...