Arkansas Supreme Court Blocks Marijuana Ballot Measure

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The Arkansas Supreme Court has blocked votes from being counted for a November ballot initiative that would expand marijuana access.

The Arkansas Supreme Court has blocked a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have expanded access to marijuana, citing misleading language that was not clear to voters as the key reason for barring the Secretary of State from canvassing or certifying any ballots cast for the proposed amendment during the Nov. 5 election.

In a 4–3 ruling issued on Oct. 21, the state’s highest court sided with an advocacy group that opposed the proposed ballot measure, which aimed to modify parts of a 2016 medical marijuana-related constitutional amendment, broadening medical access to marijuana, allowing recreational use if federally decriminalized, and making it harder for lawmakers to undo the changes in the future if the proposed amendment were to be adopted.

The proposed ballot measure, the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Amendment of 2024, sought to expand the existing medical marijuana law by broadening qualifying conditions, adding more health care providers who could authorize medical use, allowing the cultivation of cannabis at home, and setting up a pathway for the drug’s recreational use. It also aimed to limit the state Legislature’s ability to amend or repeal these changes without explicit voter approval.

The court’s decision centered on concerns that the amendment’s popular name and ballot title inaccurately portrayed its scope.

“We hold that the proposed amendment is insufficient as a matter of law for the following reasons,” the majority opinion states. “First, the popular name indicates to voters that the proposed amendment only concerns marijuana for medical purposes, yet it seeks to legalize possession of up to an ounce of marijuana for all purposes if triggered by federal action. In the same vein, the popular name of the ballot title does not inform voters that they would be amending article 5, section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution—which is likewise wholly unrelated to medical marijuana.”

The proposed amendment alters or modifies Amendment 98, the 2016 constitutional amendment related to medical marijuana, in at least 20 different ways, the court noted. While the proposed ballot measure describes nearly every change that is being proposed to Amendment 98, the court objected to the fact that its sponsors “did not disclose that they were stripping power away from the elected representatives of the people in the General Assembly.”

“The Secretary is thus enjoined from canvassing or certifying any ballots cast for the proposed amendment at the November 5, 2024, general election,” the justices wrote.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Cody Hiland, joined by Justices Karen Baker and Rhonda Wood, argued that the popular name and ballot title were sufficient under existing legal standards and that the court’s decision undermines the people’s right to vote on proposed legislation. The dissent argued for a more liberal interpretation of ballot measures, suggesting that voters would be capable of understanding the amendment’s implications if given the opportunity to decide at the ballot box.

“Contrary to the majority’s argument, if a voter reads the ballot title and is adequately informed (as they are presumed to be), any questions or hesitation about this provision would be resolved,” Hiland wrote. “I neither find that the ballot title has a misleading tendency, nor—and more importantly—that it omits material information that would give the voters serious ground for reflection.”

Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, said in a statement that it remains committed to expanding the state’s medical marijuana program and emphasizes that the signatures collected reflect broad public support.

“We are deeply disappointed in the Court’s decision,” the group said in a statement. “It seems politics has triumphed over legal precedent.”

The group sued at the beginning of October after Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston said the group fell short of the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson for Thurston’s office said that “the Secretary of State has reviewed the Supreme Court’s decision and will comply.”

About half of U.S. states permit recreational marijuana use, while a dozen more have legalized it for medical purposes. Those numbers could increase as voters in Florida, North Dakota, and South Dakota will consider legalizing recreational marijuana for adults, and Nebraska’s ballot will feature two medical marijuana measures.