Too Far … Again (Hunter Field Editor’s Note)

(Shutterstock)

It felt odd last week at my early voting site to cast a vote on a measure that won’t be counted.

I’m in the news business, so I understood why the proposed constitutional amendment to expand medical marijuana access (and more) — formally called Issue 3 — was hopelessly included on the ballot. But I expect many Arkansas voters will be surprised to learn that their vote on that issue won’t be counted.

It’s an indictment of several things.

Perhaps most glaringly, it lays bare our convoluted ballot initiative process that drags on so long each year that ballots must be printed before the Arkansas Supreme Court decides whether votes on a measure should be counted.

It’s also the second time in as many election cycles that Arkansas’ cannabis industry has shot itself in the foot and wasted millions of dollars by pushing the envelope too far.

This time, the proposed amendment would have made needed improvements to the state’s medical cannabis industry by removing a number of unnecessary hurdles for patients, marijuana dispensaries and health care providers alike.

The problem is that’s not all it would have done. It also would have created a trigger law in Arkansas to legalize recreational marijuana if the federal government ever deschedules the drug. Furthermore, it would have prohibited the General Assembly from tweaking any constitutional amendment enacted by popular vote.

Now, those two provisions aren’t necessarily bad, depending on your point of view, but they fall well outside the scope of this effort’s main goal, which was to improve the state of medical marijuana in Arkansas.

And that is precisely what the Supreme Court latched onto in its decision to disqualify Issue 3. While there are plenty of valid criticisms about how the court got to that decision, Issue 3’s sponsors made it easier; they gave the court’s majority a foot in the door.

It reminded me of what happened in 2022 with the industry-backed amendment to legalize cannabis for recreational use. That measure withstood legal scrutiny and was on the ballot. However, Arkansas voters rejected it.

I remain a firm believer that a better-crafted version of that amendment would have passed if the industry hadn’t tried to write a monopoly for itself into the state Constitution by reserving the most lucrative dispensary and growing licenses for themselves. This scheme was so offensive to many, including this publication’s editorial board and several prominent local cannabis activists, that it went up in smoke on Election Day.

Even though your cannabis vote won’t be counted, I hope you’ll go to the polls for the other races and issues.

I also hope our state eventually fixes this mess of a ballot initiative process. I’m not sure who wins as it is, but I know it isn’t the people.

Email Hunter Field, editor of Arkansas Business, at hfield@abpg.com