Medical Marijuana

Votes for and against Issue 3 on the November ballot will not count, stemming from a 4-3 decision of the Arkansas Supreme Court Monday.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered Secretary of State John Thurston to continue counting signatures for an amendment to expand medical marijuana.

Attorneys for the group Arkansans for Patient Access argue the secretary of state was selective in applying a law which led to their amendment to be disqualified.

The group Arkansans for Patient Access failed to collect enough signatures to place the amendment on the ballot, Secretary of State John Thurston said Monday.

Having been given a 30-day cure period, the group backing the amendment brought 38,000 more signatures to the secretary of state's office Friday.

An amendment to regulate the casino licensure process got enough signatures to appear on the ballot, while one about medical marijuana gets 30 extra days to collect more.

Proposed constitutional amendments regarding casinos and marijuana are expected to make it onto the November ballot, along with an amendment to legalize abortion in Arkansas.

Attorney General Tim Griffin approved one proposed constitutional amendment affecting medical marijuana and rejected an effort to alter the initiative process.

The new version would also prohibit state lawmakers from changing constitutional amendments ratified at the ballot.

A group is proposing a constitutional amendment to make medical marijuana easier to access. Their first attempts have hit a stumbling block.