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The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Monday that voters will not be allowed to weigh in on a ballot measure to expand medical marijuana in the state, arguing that the initiative failed to fully explain what it entails.
In a 4-3 decision, the justices threw out the initiative just two weeks before the election, according to The Associated Press. It is too late to remove the measure from the ballot, as early voting began on Monday, so the court instructed election officials not to count any votes on the initiative.
The proposed constitutional amendment would have expanded the definition of medical professionals who can certify patients for medical cannabis, added qualifying conditions and made medical cannabis cards valid for three years.
The court ruled the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 did not fully inform voters that it would have removed the authority of the state Legislature to change the 2016 constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana in the state.
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Boxes of petitions signed for a proposed ballot measure expanding Arkansas' medical marijuana program sit in a committee room at the Arkansas Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., July 5, 2024. (AP)
"This decision doomed the proposed ballot title, and it is plainly misleading," Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the majority opinion.
The court also said the initiative did not inform voters that the amendment would legalize up to an ounce of marijuana possession for any purpose if marijuana were legalized at the federal level.
Organizers of the initiative said in court filings that the ballot measure did cite the number of provisions that would be repealed and argued that previous court rulings said measures did not need to summarize the current law that would be amended.
Justice Cody Hiland said in a dissent that the court was ignoring decades-long precedent by ruling the measure's language was misleading.
"Long ago, this court established definitive standards for evaluating the sufficiency of popular names and ballot titles," Hiland wrote. "This court has not deviated from those standards until today."
The court also rejected election officials' reasons for ruling the measure's organizers fell short of the signatures needed for placing the measure on the ballot.
One-ounce bags of medicinal marijuana are displayed at the Berkeley Patients Group March 25, 2010 in Berkeley, California. (Getty Images)
Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, said it would continue its push to expand the medical marijuana program and that the signatures it gathered displayed widespread support.
"We are deeply disappointed in the Court’s decision," the group said in a statement. "It seems politics has triumphed over legal precedent."
The group filed a lawsuit after Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said it fell short of the signatures required to qualify for the ballot. The issue over the ballot measure's language was raised by Protect Arkansas Kids, a group that opposed the measure and intervened in the case.
Thurston's office had refused to count some of the signatures submitted, claiming the group had not followed paperwork rules about paid signature gatherers.
Earlier this year, the state rejected petitions submitted in favor of a pro-life ballot measure on similar grounds.
In July, the state said the group had fallen short of the required signatures for the medical marijuana measure but qualified for 30 additional days to circulate petitions. The state then told the group that any additional signatures gathered by paid signature gatherers would not be counted if required information was submitted by the canvassing company rather than the measure's sponsors.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that voters will not be allowed to weigh in on a ballot measure to expand medical marijuana in the state. (Getty Images)
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The court said Monday that this decision was wrong, arguing that state law allows a wide range of people to be considered sponsors of the measure.
Other groups had been campaigning against the measure, even as it was unclear whether it would be on the ballot next month. The Family Council Action Committee announced last week it planned to launch a statewide tour opposing the measure.
"A measure this bad simply has no business being on the ballot or in the constitution," the committee's director, Jerry Cox, said after Monday's ruling.
About half of U.S. states allow recreational marijuana and a dozen more have legalized medical marijuana. In November, voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, while two measures on medical marijuana will be on ballots in Nebraska.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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