Thurston rejects medical marijuana request, citing insufficient signatures from the group

Little Rock, Arkansas – Secretary of State John Thurston indicated that although a proposal to increase access to medical marijuana in Arkansas will be on the ballot in 2024, the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office stated that the measure did not receive enough signatures.

The Public Policy Center was the first to disclose that 2,664 signatures were needed for Issue 3 to meet the criterion. The purpose of this bill, also known as the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024, is to increase qualifying patients’ access to medical marijuana.

This would increase the number of eligible medical conditions, enable certain medical practitioners to certify individuals, and accomplish other goals.

In order for the amendment to be included on the ballot, 90,704 qualifying signatures were required.

Advocates for Medical Marijuana Amendment ballot committee has been led by Arkansans for Patient Access (APA). The group declared last month that they had turned in over 150,000 voter signatures in favor of the amendment.

Secretary of State John Thurston informed the group in a letter that 10,521 signatures that were sent in within the cure period were considered legitimate, bringing the total number of signatures on file to 88,040.

“Therefore, I am obligated to deem your petition insufficient,” Thurston stated.

Issue 3’s backers are now asserting that they have submitted enough signatures to guarantee that the Arkansas Marijuana Amendment of 2024 will appear on the ballot in November. In addition, they declared that they would take legal action following the Secretary of State’s Office refusal.

“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,” Arkansans for Patient Access stated. “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.”

Furthermore, the group claimed that 20,000 signatures gathered throughout the cure time were disqualified “because of an arbitrary, last-minute change in clerical rules.” “Unfair and contrary to the democratic process,” was how they described this.

September 30, 2024, was the deadline for the state of Arkansas to reply to this citizen-led ballot issue group.