LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas group said that they have now submitted over 150,000 voter signatures supporting the 2024 medical marijuana amendment.
The group, Arkansans for Patient Access (APA), is the ballot committee supporting the proposed medical marijuana amendment.
The group said that they submitted 38,933 signatures on Friday. This comes after the Secretary of State validated over 77,000 signatures in July. All in all, APA said that they have turned in 150,335 total voter signatures from each of the 75 counties in Arkansas.
Following the announcement of the signature submission, members of APA shared their excitement in a statement.
“We are excited to move one step closer to having the amendment certified,” Bill Paschall, APA committee member said. “People across the state have enthusiastically signed petitions and told us they are excited to vote for an amendment that will expand patient access and lower the cost of obtaining and keeping a patient card.”
According to APA, the proposed amendment would look to "enhance access by expanding who may certify patients and allow patients to be certified by qualified healthcare practitioners via telehealth."
Additionally, the group said that both healthcare practitioners and patients will decide on certification at the discretion of the patient's needs. APA said that this will open up the what they called "narrow" conditions that are currently required prior to approval.
The amendment would also change the patient card renewal, extending it from a single year to three years, while working to eliminate state-associated card fees too.