LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — While an effort to expand medical marijuana access in Arkansas will appear on the 2024 ballot, the Arkansas Secretary of State's Office said the proposal fell short of the signature requirement, according to Secretary of State John Thurston.
In a post to X, the Public Policy Center first reported that Issue 3 fell short of the requirement by 2,664 signatures. This issue, otherwise known as the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 aims to expand access to medical marijuana by qualified patients.
This would allow certain medical professionals to certify patients, expand the list of qualifying medical conditions, and more.
For the amendment to make it onto the ballot, there needed to be 90,704 qualifying signatures.
The group, Arkansans for Patient Access (APA), is the ballot committee that has been supporting the proposed medical marijuana amendment. Last month, the group announced that they submitted more than 150,000 voter signatures supporting the proposed amendment.
In a letter sent to the group, Secretary of State John Thurston said that 10,521 signatures submitted during the cure period were valid, which put the group at 88,040 signatures.
"Therefore, I am obligated to deem your petition insufficient," Thurston said.
Now, sponsors for Issue 3 are saying that they did in fact turn in enough signatures for the Arkansas Marijuana Amendment of 2024 to be on the ballot in November. They also said that they would pursue legal action after the rejection from the Secretary of State's Office.
"It appears that the certification of the Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 has been blocked for reasons unrelated to the proposal’s merits, with political motives influencing the decision," the group Arkansans for Patient Access said. "We are deeply disappointed by this outcome and will pursue legal action tomorrow against the Secretary of State to ensure the voices of Arkansans are heard."
The group also said that 20,000 signatures collected during the cure period were excluded "due to an arbitrary, last-minute clerical rule change." They called this "unfair and contrary to the democratic process."
The deadline for the state of Arkansas to respond to this citizen-led ballot issue group was September 30, 2024.
