Court fight over Arkansas recreational cannabis ballot measure heats up

An Arkansas court battle over whether a recreational cannabis legalization ballot measure will go before voters continues, with an anti-marijuana group filing a motion with the state Supreme Court that calls the initiative “misleading, fraudulent, and illegal” under state law.

Safe and Secure Communities told the state’s high court that the initiative should not be allowed on the ballot because it doesn’t “disclose the elimination of the currently existing THC limitation in the Arkansas Constitution,” the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

The move is the latest in a seesawing legal fight between cannabis proponents – including the campaign behind the initiative, Responsible Growth Arkansas – and marijuana groups that don’t want adult-use legalization to pass.

The measure was first rejected by the State Board of Election Commissioners.

But after Responsible Growth Arkansas sued, the state Supreme Court issued a preliminary injunction conditionally placing the initiative back on the ballot.

Safe and Secure Communities recently was granted its request to be added as a third party in the lawsuit, the Democrat-Gazette reported, in addition to another anti-cannabis group, Save Arkansas from Epidemic.

The situation further calls into question whether recreational marijuana legalization will be on the November ballot in Arkansas.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/court-fight-over-arkansas-recreational-cannabis-ballot-measure-heats-up/