CANNABIZ
CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY FOR MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION LONGTIME ADVOCATE MELISSA FULTS LEADS CAMPAIGN.
BRIAN CHILSON
BY GRIFFIN COOP
BOUND FOR THE BALLOT?: Melissa Fults’ Arkansas Marijuana Amendment of 2022 seeks to legalize recreational use in Arkansas.
A
rkansas adults will be able to legally purchase marijuana for recreational use by February 2023 if a recently filed constitutional amendment proposal makes the ballot and is approved by voters next year. The Arkansas Marijuana Amendment of 2022, filed and later revised in November by longtime Arkansas marijuana advocate Melissa Fults, will allow Arkansans ages 21 and over to possess up to 5 ounces of marijuana. The amendment would allow adults to grow up to six plants of their own in “micro-cultivation” cooperatives, expunge the criminal records of certain criminal offenses related to marijuana, and expand the number of dispensaries and cultivation facilities. “It’s fair to the consumer, it’s fair to the industry and it’s fair to the state,” Fults said. “You can’t get any better than that.” The amendment would make Arkansas the first state among its neighbors and only the second state in the South, after Virginia, to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. In total, 19 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for adult use. Thirteen of those states approved it at the ballot box, while the rest were enacted by state legislatures.
State law now limits the number of dispensaries to 40 and cultivation facilities to eight. Fults’ amendment would increase the dispensaries to 1 for every 15,000 population, which would allow for about 200 dispensaries based on the most recent census data. The amendment would expand cultivation facilities to 1 for every 300,000 population, which would allow for about 10 cultivation facilities. The state Alcoholic Beverage Control Division uses a similar system for allocating liquor licenses. The revised amendment would keep the existing medical marijuana program in place but would make a few changes to Amendment 98, which voters approved to legalize medical marijuana in 2016. The Arkansas Marijuana Amendment of 2022 would keep the current qualifying conditions for eligibility for a medical marijuana card but would allow physicians to use their own judgment as to what other conditions could be helped with medical marijuana. According to the amendment, “any condition that the physician using his/her medical judgment believes will be of therapeutic or palliative benefit to the patient” will qualify to make patients eligible for medical marijuana. Chronic and terminal patients would also be able to receive a lifetime marijuana card for a
maximum fee of $100. Patients currently must pay $50 to renew their card annually. The amendment would also change how marijuana is taxed. Medical marijuana would no longer be subject to an excise tax, currently at 4%, and would only be subject to the state retail sales tax of 6% and local sales taxes. Recreational marijuana purchases would be taxed at 15% under the amendment. Revenue from the tax would go to administer the marijuana program, with excess revenue going into four categories: pre-kindergarten and after-school programs (40%), a fund to provide free or reduced-cost medical marijuana to low-income patients (20%), the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences National Cancer Institute (20%) and general revenues (20%). The amendment also expunges nonviolent felony and misdemeanor convictions for the possession or sale of 16 ounces or less of marijuana, six or fewer marijuana plants and paraphernalia intended for use with marijuana. “There are far too many people, especially people of color, whose lives have been destroyed over a plant,” Fults said. Fults said she anticipates having sufficient financial backing from people who have expressed ARKANSASTIMES.COM
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