Talk Business contributor Suzi Parker turns a story for Reuters highlighting an Arkansas group’s efforts to legalize medical marijuana.
Proponents of legalizing medical marijuana in Arkansas are hoping that 2012 is their lucky year.
After failed attempts to get the issue certified as a ballot initiative, a new group, Arkansans for Compassionate Care, has succeeded in clearing the first hurdle – getting Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel to certify the proposal’s ballot language.
The next step starts on Tuesday when the group begins to collect the required minimum of 62,507 signatures from registered voters. The group has until July 6, 2012 to submit them to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office in order to qualify the proposal for the November 2012 general election ballot.
"We want to ensure that sick and dying patients in Arkansas have the ability to get the medicine they need and that is sometimes medical marijuana," said Ryan Denham, campaign director for Arkansans for Compassionate Care.
But Jerry Cox, president of the Arkansas Family Council, a conservative group based in Little Rock, said that legalizing marijuana for medical use makes the drug more available for recreational use.
"Any individual who can acquire, grow or own his own marijuana is one step away from sharing with his friends who may not have any medical issues," Cox said.
You can read the full story from Parker at this link.
