The following press release is from Family Council Action Committee.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 22, 2016
On Thursday the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled Issue 7, a ballot proposal legalizing so-called “medical marijuana,” could stay on the ballot for November.
Family Council Action Committee Executive Director Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “The Arkansas Supreme Court has made a very poor decision. This proposal brings recreational marijuana to Arkansas. It is a flawed measure that hurts Arkansans.”
Cox said “medical marijuana” is simply recreational marijuana by another name. “This proposal wasn’t written for cancer patients or children who suffer from seizures. It lets anyone with pain, nausea, or muscle spasms smoke marijuana. It lets people who live a certain distance from the nearest marijuana store grow marijuana at home. In other words, the measure lets practically anyone qualify to use marijuana, and it lets marijuana users grow and smoke their own marijuana.”
Cox pointed out specific problems with Issue 7’s wording. “This proposal is over ten thousand words long. From a legal standpoint, it is extremely complicated. It doesn’t simply legalize marijuana. It also affects criminal laws; employment laws; property laws; and education laws. It increases the workload of the Arkansas Department of Health. None of that is clear if all you have to go on is the measure’s title that appears on the ballot. It is not fair to ask Arkansans to vote on a proposal that is so vague and complicated.”
Cox noted that no credible medical experts in Arkansas endorse marijuana. “The Arkansas Surgeon General and the director of the Arkansas Department of Health both say marijuana is not medicine. Governor Hutchinson recently stood alongside an entire team of physicians who pointed out the health problems associated with marijuana. Study after study published in the British Medical Journal, the Journals of the American Medical Association, and others have linked marijuana use with heart and lung problems, memory problems, reductions in IQ, and other mental health problems. Scientists are researching potential medicines that might be derived from the marijuana plant, but the claim that marijuana itself is ‘medicine’ simply doesn’t hold water.”
Cox said Family Council Action Committee will continue to campaign against Issue 7.
Family Council Action Committee is a conservative 501(c)(4) organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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