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of the initiative said in court filings that the ballot measure did cite the number of provisions that would be repealed and argued that previous court rulings said measures did not need to summarize the current law that would be amended.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…
