Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2012
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.wsj.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487
Author: Ana Campoy

MEDICAL-MARIJUANA VOTE IN ARKANSAS TO GO AHEAD

Arkansas could become the first state in the South to legalize 
marijuana use for medicinal purposes in November, after the Arkansas 
Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a ballot measure advanced by activists.

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act was challenged by state 
conservative groups that argued the ballot measure's summary was 
misleading and incomplete, for example, by not specifying which 
illnesses a person would need to have to legally obtain the drug. The 
groups asked the court to remove the measure from the ballot.

Arkansas Supreme Court justices rejected the argument, concluding in 
their opinion that the summary "informs the voters in an 
intelligible, honest and impartial manner" about what the measure would do.

If passed, the measure would enable people in Arkansas who have 
certain illnesses, such as cancer and glaucoma, to legally acquire 
marijuana to help ease their symptoms. Eligible people would get a 
certificate to buy marijuana at dispensaries that would be set up for 
the first time in the state.

California in 1996 became the first state to approve the use of 
medical marijuana. Since then, 16 other states and the District of 
Columbia have adopted similar laws. Most of them are in the East 
Coast or in the West.

Arkansans for Compassionate Care, the group behind the Arkansas 
initiative, said its proposed law includes limits on the number of 
dispensaries selling the drug, as well as strict controls over who is 
eligible to use the marijuana.

The group gathered 120,000 signatures to put the measure on the 
ballot, almost double the number that state law requires, members 
said. It received financial assistance from the Marijuana Policy 
Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates the 
decriminalization of marijuana.

"We hope that this will be a model for other states to go with in the 
future," said Christopher Kell, campaign strategist for the Arkansas group.

But members of the Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Values, which filed 
the court challenge, said the proposed controls aren't enough to keep 
marijuana out of the hands of those would use it for purposes other 
than to relieve symptoms of a medical condition.

"Medical marijuana is not about providing health care to people," 
said Larry Page, executive director of Arkansas Faith and Ethics 
Council, a group that is part of the opposition coalition. "What's 
driving this is the effort to legalize marijuana for recreational use."

Mr. Page said his group will now focus on educating the public about 
the consequences of passing the initiative, which he said aren't 
spelled out in the proposal that voters will review at the polling places.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom