Arkansas
Group won't wait on Arkansas Supreme Court to oppose marijuana amendment • Arkansas Advocate
The Family Council Action Committee on Wednesday announced plans for a statewide tour to urge Arkansans to vote against a proposed measure that would implement changes to the medical marijuana industry.
A conservative nonprofit based in Little Rock, the Family Council Action Committee has opposed the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2024 and the Arkansas Abortion Amendment of 2024. The state Supreme Court found that the latter was disqualified due to a paperwork technicality, but whether votes cast on the former will be counted still remains in limbo.
“I think it’s incredibly unfair, though it’s not anybody’s fault. We’re in this situation where we’re on the eve of early voting, and we still don’t know if some measures qualify,” said Executive Director Jerry Cox during a press conference in the state Capitol Wednesday. “That makes it very difficult.”
Early voting in Arkansas starts on Monday, and the Arkansas Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on the certification of the proposed medical marijuana constitutional amendment.
Nevertheless, starting next week and extending until Election Day, staff with the Family Council Action Committee will travel to 25 Arkansas cities to share their views on the proposed initiative during public forums. Volunteers in all 75 counties will also help distribute fliers in the community, primarily in churches, Cox said.
Arkansans voted to legalize cannabis for medical use in 2016, though the first products were not sold until 2019. The state now has 37 licensed dispensaries and a billion-dollar medical cannabis industry.
The proposed amendment is intended to improve patient access by removing barriers that inhibit some people from using medical cannabis, primarily those living in rural and low-income areas. The proposed measure would, among other things, eliminate application fees for patient cards and allow health care providers to conduct patient assessments via telemedicine.
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“Patients who need medical marijuana can get it,” Cox said. “Over 100,000 people have medical marijuana cards in Arkansas right now. Access is not a problem.”
Regarding access in rural areas, Cox said he didn’t believe the proposed amendment would help residents because it does not add any additional dispensary locations.
Cox named three primary concerns Wednesday: industry professionals wrote the initiative to give themselves a “permanent monopoly,” children will be harmed by the removal of advertising restrictions, and eliminating the fee for patient cards allows non-Arkansans and “illegal immigrants” to access services funded by taxpayers.
“Imagine Arkansas being a place where people can get free marijuana cards to use marijuana here in our state. And what that might do to certain communities where people congregate,” Cox said. “Imagine illegal immigrants being able to come here and get a free marijuana card. What does that do to our state and what kind of message does that send to the rest of the country where Arkansas becomes this marijuana drug use destination?”
Arkansans for Patient Access, the ballot question committee supporting the proposed amendment, said Cox and the Family Council Action Committee were using fearmongering to tie medical marijuana to the national immigration debate.
“There is no tie,” said committee member Bill Paschall. “To obtain a patient card, a person must hold a valid state identification card and be certified by a licensed Arkansas healthcare provider. The Family Council’s claim is nothing but a scare tactic. The only thing free about a medical marijuana card is that the patient will not have to pay a fee to the state going forward. Patients must still be certified by a doctor, pharmacist, advanced nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant. Today, physicians charge on average $150 for certification, far from free.”
Pashcall continued, “It is silly to think Arkansas will become a destination for marijuana use when twenty-four states now permit recreational use and other medical states have less onerous access requirements.”
In addition to on-the-ground efforts in the state, the Family Council Action Committee has also paid for advertisements on local streaming stations. Cox did not name any services except Spotify, a music platform.
“The thing that really grieves me about this amendment is the fact that I have witnessed very powerful marijuana millionaires manipulate our initiative process to buy their way to the ballot,” Cox said. “What they’re about to do to the people of Arkansas is absolutely awful. And what they’re doing in the name of the almighty God should not happen to our state.”
The Family Council Action Committee also opposed an initiative to legalize recreational cannabis in Arkansas in 2022, which did not secure enough votes. Cox noted this year’s measure was “the same song, different verse.”
Ongoing legal challenge
Secretary of State John Thurston in July validated some 77,000 signatures from Arkansans for Patient Access, and the group was granted 30 additional days to collect signatures to try to reach the required 90,704 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
At the extension’s conclusion, the group turned in nearly 39,000 more signatures, but the validity of those signatures was questioned because an agent signed required paperwork instead of a sponsor.
Thurston deemed the petition insufficient after the additional signatures because of the paperwork technicality, which Arkansans for Patient Access challenged in court.
A few days after Thurston said he would not count signatures that were submitted using an agent’s signature, the Supreme Court ordered him to continue counting.
Two justices have recused themselves from deciding whether votes on the proposed medical marijuana amendment will be counted. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has assigned replacements, and a ruling on the signature issue and whether the ballot name and title are misleading are pending.
In a decision this week regarding another proposed constitutional amendment — one related to casinos in Arkansas — the high court found an agent’s signature in place of a sponsor was acceptable. Cox said Wednesday that the ruling was an indication the state Supreme Court would not disqualify the proposed medical marijuana amendment on that basis.
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Last year Kansas and Arkansas were in the Fayetteville Regional but never got a chance to play. That will change tonight at 5 p.m. when the top two seeds face off in the winner’s bracket of the Lawrence Regional.
Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn watched the Jayhawks last year and believes they are a better team than last year.
“They are a very good team,” Van Horn said. “They were in our regional last year. We didn’t face them, but you could see from the stands or our offices when we watched them play that they’re physical.
He continued:
“They added to it, got a couple key guys back, and they can hit the ball over your head with the best of them. Really good here (at home). They had one rough weekend here against West Virginia. Other than that, they’ve been great.”
Kansas will face a talented pitcher in Dietz
The Jayhawks are set to face one of the best pitchers they have seen this season. Hunter Dietz is expected to start for the Razorbacks and should be healthy.
In the SEC tournament against Texas, he took a line drive off his leg that sidelined him. He threw a bullpen earlier in the week and looked good according to Arkansas head coach Dave Van Horn.
“That’s the plan, is to pitch him,” Van Horn said. “Unless something crazy goes on with his leg or whatever. But yeah, he seems to be feeling good. He seems to be moving around good and no complaints. I feel like he’s ready to go, so that’s who we’ll go with.”
[Jayhawks open with a win over Northeastern]
Dietz is projected to go in the first round and some draft analysts say he might be the best left-handed pitcher in the country. The 6-foot-6 lefty’s fastball is consistently in the 93-96 mph range and he mixes in a cutter and slider.
This year he has eye-opening numbers with 121 strikeouts and only 29 walks.
Containing the running game from Northeastern
A lot of the talk going into the first round against Northeastern was their speed on the bases. They led the nation in stolen bases by a wide margin but did not get one against Kansas.
“It was the emphasis going in,” said head coach Dan Fitzgerald. “Now, the Big 12 prepares us for that. You think of the teams that we play against, you’ve heard me refer to the Big 12 as the take-what-they-give-you league.”
Fitzgerald gave credit to his coaching staff working with the pitchers on their delivery and holding runners on.
“It took a lot of game planning,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought that Coach Scott and Coach Holland did a tremendous job today. I thought the scout was amazing, but that was a big deal to hold them down.”
Kansas will have a rested bullpen
One good thing going into the Arkansas game is a rested bullpen. Dominic Voegele threw seven innings on 102 pitches and was followed by Boede Rahe who threw 32 over two innings of work.
Fitzgerald said after the game it was a key factor to get through game one with two pitchers.
“It was huge, and they were both fantastic,” he said. “Boede has told me daily the entire season that he’s good to go, so he’ll be able to bounce back. Dom was so efficient, and again, it’s so hard to be efficient against a lineup like that.”
Rahe leads the team in saves and he has appeared in back-to-back games this season. If he is needed in a close game tonight don’t be surprised to see him available for a limited pitch count.
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – No. 5 National Seed Arkansas Razorbacks’ historic season came to an end on Friday night with an 11-0 (5 inn.) loss to UCLA at the Women’s College World Series inside Devon Park.
With the loss, Arkansas finished its season with a 47-13 record that culminated in the program’s first Women’s College World Series berth. The Hogs’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.
Tianna Bell, Atalyia Rijo, and Kailey Wyckoff all recorded base hits for Arkansas in the loss. Wyckoff and Karlie Davison both drew walks. Payton Burnham (14-4) took the loss for Arkansas after allowing four runs on three hits in 1.1 innings of work.
Taylor Tinsley (33-7) took the win for UCLA, pitching five shutout innings while striking out two and allowing three hits and two walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Payton Burnham made her 19th start of the season for Arkansas, while UCLA went with senior Taylor Tinsley.
In the top of the first inning, Atalyia Rijo had a hand in all three outs of a 1-2-3 frame that featured a pair of groundouts and a popout. Tinsley responded with a 1-2-3 inning herself, courtesy of a strikeout, flyout, and lineout in the home half of the first inning.
Aleena Garcia gave UCLA a 1-0 lead with a lead-off solo home run to dead center field in the top of the second inning. Kaniya Bragg got hit by a pitch, and Alexis Ramirez singled before Soo-Jin Berry made it a 4-0 game with a three-run home run to left field. Following Ramirez’s homer, Saylor Timmerman entered in relief for Arkansas. Megan Grant later extended the Bruins’ lead to 7-0 by way of a three-run home run to center field, her 42nd of the season. Senior LHP Robyn Herron entered with two runners on and two outs in the inning. UCLA extended its lead to 9-0 courtesy of a two-RBI double off the top of the wall in right field by Bragg.
In the bottom of the second inning, Karlie Davison became the first baserunner of the game for Arkansas after reaching on a two-out walk. She later advanced to second base on a single from Atalyia Rijo. Kailey Wyckoff later walked to load the bases, but UCLA would escape with a flyout to get out of the inning.
In the top of the third inning, Herron registered a pair of strikeouts while UCLA made it 10-0 by scoring a run by way of a wild pitch. Tinsley retired the Hogs in order in the bottom of the third inning.
Herron retired UCLA in order in the top of the fourth inning while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Tianna Bell singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth inning, the Bruins’ Jolyna Lamar increased the UCLA lead to 11-0 with a solo home run to right field.
Kailey Wyckoff singled down the third-base line to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning before UCLA retired three consecutive batters to end the game.
NOTABLES
- Arkansas finished the season with a 47-13 overall record. The Razorbacks’ 47 wins were the second-most in program history, trailing only the 2022 team’s 48-11 overall record.
Up Next
The Razorbacks will be back in action in the spring of 2027.
For schedule updates and other news, go to ArkansasRazorbacks.com, or follow @RazorbackSB on X, Instagram and Facebook.
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