Representative Lundstrum talks health care, medical marijuana
■ This was the final scheduled legislative meeting, but more could be added.
Residents of Arkansas District 87 gathered inside the Arvest Community Room on Saturday for a chance to dialogue with an elected official in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R) met with some of her constituents for around an hour in what was scheduled to be the final legislative meeting of the season, though Chamber of Commerce CEO Wayne Mays noted that potential future government actions could demand further meetings.
“This is scheduled to be our last legislative briefing,” Mays said. “If something blows up in a week or 10 days that they really need to come by and speak to some folks, we can have another one.”
Lundstrum said the Arkansas legislature will be busy for the immediate future as a series of bills are pushed through before the legislative session ends. The
representative asked people to text her if they saw a bad bill up for consideration in case she missed it.
Lundstrum started the meeting by giving an overview of some bills that were up for consideration.
Two of the highest profile government actions were both related to healthcare in a week that saw Republicans in Washington pull the American Health Care Act from consideration minutes before a vote.
First, Lundstrum said she wants to work to limit Arkansas’ medical marijuana law, which she called one of the most expansive in the country. Lundstrum said she had always been in favor of banning the smoking of medical marijuana, and allowing patients to use oils that can give the benefits of the medicine without altering the user’s mental state.
Arkansas is considering a marijuana smoking bill that would impose the same restrictions to smoking marijuana as smoking cigarettes, Lundstrum said.
The second part of the medical marijuana debate in the state government has to do with zoning for the marijuana groweries and dispensaries that will be allowed after November’s vote. By state law, the facilities are considered under the same zoning guidelines as pharmacies, which Siloam Springs Mayor John Mark Turner, who was present at the briefing, said was a problem because most cities had no special zoning ordinances for pharmacies.
“This is going to get ticklish,” said Lundstrum.
In addition to the issues stemming from medical marijuana, the state legislature is feeling strain from national healthcare laws.
“Our back is against the wall with the private option,” Lundstrum said.
The state will have to pay five percent of the program’s cost to the government this summer, and Lundstrum said that cost was dooming many bills to fail simply for lack of available funds.
Lundstrum said the state had expected around one third of the people who signed up to join the program.
“Everyone’s watching to see what goes on in D.C.,” Lundstrum said. “It all flows downhill from there.”
Lundstrum also outlined some other bills that are in the legislative pipeline. They include the passage of a bill changing unemployment benefits from five months to four, getting abortion clinics reclassified as surgery clinics for inspection purposes, and a Voter ID law that passed and will be on the ballot. Lundstrum also discussed a Freedom of Information Act bill designed to shield police agents’ info from being accessible through county websites.
Lundstrum stayed after the presentation and answered questions on a range of topics from driver’s license renewals to dairy cows at farmers’ markets. She urged constituents to contact her with questions or concerns. Her contact information can be found at http:// www.arkansashouse.org/