Two groups gathering signatures for Arkansas recreational marijuana proposals

Two groups are hoping to place proposals on the November ballot in Arkansas that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana. This comes six years after voters approved the use of marijuana for people in the state with certain medical conditions.

Backers of the separate proposed state constitutional amendments are working to gather enough valid petition signatures before a July deadline.

The proposal by Responsible Growth Arkansas would expand the number of grower licenses in the state to 20 and dispensary licenses to 40. Campaign Chairman Eddie Armstrong says it would enable more craft products to be grown.

“It will allow for an opportunity for us to see more nuances in the natural state for lower yield, higher quality, better products that will hopefully be in the market for customers to consume,” he said in an interview.

To obtain a cultivation or dispensary license, people would need to go through an application process, then be selected through a lottery system. Armstrong says this process was chosen to avoid problems and inequities experienced during the granting of licenses for medicinal facilities.

“We saw in our state the last time this type of process happened, and in many other states that I worked in across the country, there is a lot of red tape and sometimes some unfortunate mishandling of how scores are issued,” Armstrong said. [Read more at KUAR]