Advocates for expanding Arkansas’s medical cannabis program have been granted additional time to collect signatures after submitting more than 108,500 signatures, of which 85% were deemed valid. Despite this, the total number of valid signatures was insufficient to secure a spot on the November ballot, according to the Arkansas Advocate.
Under Arkansas law, ballot campaigns are afforded a “cure period” if the initial submission meets at least 75% of the required total number of signatures and 75% of the signatures from at least 50 counties. The Secretary of State, John Thurston, has granted the campaign a 30-day extension, requiring new signatures to be submitted by August 30. As of now, the campaign has collected at least 77,000 valid signatures, falling short of the 80,704 required.
Bill Paschall, a member of the ballot question committee, expressed confidence in a statement to the Advocate, asserting that the campaign, organized by Arkansans for Patient Access, will meet and exceed the necessary threshold before the deadline.
The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to enhance patient access to medical cannabis by enabling physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists to certify patients for medical cannabis cards. It also aims to allow telemedicine for patient assessments and permits healthcare professionals to qualify patients based on medical need, rather than adhering to the 18 qualifying conditions currently mandated by the state.
Arkansas voters first approved the medical cannabis ballot question in 2016, but the first products did not become available to patients until 2019.
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