LITTLE ROCK (KTHV) – A second measure for legalizing medicinal marijuana has been approved to be on the November ballot. On Wednesday, the Secretary of State’s office verified 97,284 valid signatures which exceeds the 84,859 signatures needed for the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment.
In July, Secretary of State Mark Martin’s office approved the other marijuana ballot, the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act was given an extension to provide enough signatures to be on the November ballot.
The two proposals are after the same goal of legalizing medical marijuana but take different routes to the issue. The Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act allows people to grown their own medical marijuana while the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment would act as a sort of pharmacy.
Ryan Denham, deputy director for the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act said “[The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act]’s conditions list is much more limited than ours. Our conditions list includes serious conditions Parkinson’s and Lupus.
Sponsor of the other measure David Couch said he thinks the two competing ballots on the same ballot will not cause either to fail but prefers his over the opposing measure.
Both initiatives have a chance to allow Arkansas to be a part of the ever-growing list of states that allows medical marijuana. In 2012, there was a proposal that narrowly lost 51 percent to 48 percent.
