Cannabis Legalization Question Approved by Arkansas Supreme Court for November.

by Hunter Dublin | October 5, 2022

The Associated Press reports that the Arkansas Supreme Court last week decided that the state's adult-use cannabis ballot measure can appear on November ballots.

The decision was made after Responsible Growth Arkansas asked the court to overturn a state Board of Election Commissioners ruling from August that said the measure could not be put on the ballot in November due to a technicality in the title language, despite the group has gathered more than enough signatures.

In the court's decision, Justice Robin Wynne stated that the public would vote in November on whether to adopt the proposed modification.

While it decided in the case, the court had permitted the initiative language to be adopted in August. John Thurston, the state's attorney general, and the board's head concurred with the board's decision and declared that the initiative could not be considered in November.

According to Steve Lancaster, an attorney with Responsible Growth Arkansas, "we're incredibly thrilled to the Supreme Court that they agreed with us and felt that it was a perfect vindication of everything we've done." "We are eagerly anticipating November."

In 2016, a constitutional amendment for medicinal cannabis was approved in Arkansas. If passed, Arkansas residents who are 21 and older would be able to buy up to an ounce of marijuana from licensed dispensaries.

The court also overturned the 2019 statute that granted the Board of Election Commissioners the power to approve the text of ballot measures. The study states that the state attorney general is now responsible for that responsibility.