Arkansas attorney general files brief to intervene in lawsuit over recreational marijuana amendment ballot exclusion

The Arkansas attorney general’s office argued in a brief it filed Tuesday that the State Board of Election Commissioners made the right call in kicking a proposed referendum to legalize recreational marijuana off the November ballot.

Earlier this month, Responsible Growth Arkansas, a group in favor of legal recreational marijuana, filed suit after the election board rejected the cannabis referendum’s popular name and ballot title over concerns that it does not limit the level of THC, the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.

Responsible Growth Arkansas has asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to step in and order the proposed constitutional amendment back on the November ballot.

To get the recreational marijuana referendum on the ballot, activists said they collected more than 192,000 signatures from registered voters, exceeding the roughly 90,000 they needed to get a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution on the ballot.

If passed, the amendment would legalize recreational cannabis for adults and allow the state to issue dispensary and cultivation licenses. In 2016, Arkansas voters approved a referendum legalizing medical marijuana in the state.

While the election board rejected the referendum, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a preliminary injunction to keep the question on the ballot until it issues a final ruling.

[Read more at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]