The vote to legalize cannabis in Arkansas was defeated despite collecting more than enough signatures – here’s why

Through Jelena Martinovic

A proposed measure to legalize recreational cannabis in Arkansas has been blocked from appearing on the state ballot this November. The state Board of Election Commissioners rejected the proposal’s electoral title and popular name after it received enough signatures to qualify for November’s election, the Associated Press reported.

The commissioner opposed the measure, saying the title of the ballot was not clear enough when it came to the impact of the change, citing the issue of allowable levels of THC in marijuana edibles.

Photo by Tara Winstead via Pexels

“If I’m a voter, I might be for it, but I want to preserve that edible line,” Commissioner J. Harmon Smith said.

Under the proposed change, individuals age 21 and older would be able to legally possess up to an ounce of cannabis, while state-licensed dispensaries would be allowed to sell recreational marijuana.

Eddie Armstrong, former Minority Leader in the Arkansas Democratic House and head of the Responsible Growth Arkansas activist group, submitted the petitions to the Secretary of State last month. He recently said they had collected more than twice as many signatures to qualify the proposal for this year’s general election.

“Due to the timeframe to get this done, they stopped at 90,000 verified signatures and have now moved on to the casino petition,” said Kevin Niehaus, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Department. “Knowing how many signatures they had left and they had already reached 90,000 signatures, they felt comfortable and said they did it.”

In July, activists submitted petitions containing 192,828 signatures from voters supporting changes to marijuana legalization.

What’s next?

Responsible Growth Arkansas attorney Steve Lancaster plans to appeal to the Supreme Court.

“The kind of detail that the board expected or requested in this case would make our ballot thousands and thousands of words long,” Lancaster told reporters after the vote. “That’s just not practical for a vote.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.