AG rejects ballot wording for proposed amendment on recreational marijuana

Attorney General Tim Griffin has rejected ballot wording for a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana.

The amendment would legalize recreational marijuana for those 21 and older and require the state to issue licenses for dispensaries to sell the drug. The amendment also would expunge convictions for those with marijuana-related offenses on their record.

Griffin rejected the amendment’s ballot wording Tuesday for being misleading, saying the amendment’s interchangeable use of “marijuana” and “recreational marijuana” lacked clarity and that it was unclear who would have their criminal records expunged if the amendment passed.

Cedric L. King, the man who submitted the proposal, will have an opportunity to resubmit his amendment for review. Before King can begin the petition campaign, he needs approval from the attorney general’s office on the ballot wording for his amendment.

If approved, King will need to collect 90,704 signatures by July 5.

The amendment also would allow Arkansas residents to purchase up to 4 ounces of smokable or vaporizable recreational marijuana a day and own or purchase 12 marijuana plants. Arkansas residents would be permitted to buy “any quantity” of cannabis seeds or “food or drink products produced from recreational marijuana.”

The amendment would create two kinds of state licenses. A Class A license “would permit the possession, cultivation, transport and sale of recreational marijuana plants and seeds.” A Class B license “would permit the possession, cultivation, production, transport and sale of recreational marijuana plants, seeds, and permits the production and sale of products produced from the plant,” according to the amendment’s ballot title.

For both kinds of licenses, “any adult resident residing in the State of Arkansas for (3) years or more shall qualify to obtain such a license.” The maximum the state can charge for a Class A license is $250 and for a Class B license $500 a year.

The proposal is separate from another marijuana-related amendment that already has received approval

from the attorney general’s office to proceed. That amendment, led by Arkansans for Patient Access, looks to expand access to medical marijuana by allowing nurse practitioners, physicians’ assistants and pharmacists — in addition to doctors — to sign off on medical cards, and allow patients to grow cannabis at home among other reforms.

That medical marijuana amendment also would legalize recreational marijuana, but only if the federal government ends its prohibition against the drug.

In 2022, voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have legalized recreational marijuana in Arkansas.