Natural State News

Family Council President Jerry Cox is sounding the alarm about what he deems to be the dangers associated with the proposed passage of the Marijuana Legalization Initiative voters will find on the ballot when they go to the polls this November.

“If this weed amendment passes, a marijuana monopoly will be enshrined in the Arkansas Constitution, and there’s no going back,” Cox penned in a recent Natural State newsletter. “The legislature and local elected officials will be powerless to tax it, zone it, regulate it or stop them from flooding our streets with illicit drugs. Do we really want to permanently amend our constitution to add marijuana?"

The so-called Arkansas Adult Use Cannabis Amendment is set to appear on the ballot on Nov 8, and as Election Day draws closer, Ballotpedia reports debate over the issue is growing even more intense as supporters of the measure are backing a constitutional amendment as a means of having it enacted.

Jerry Cox | Family Council

Along with legalizing marijuana use for individuals 21 years of age and older and authorizing the commercial sale of marijuana with sales taxed at 10%, the measure would be safe from change from any elected official.

Cox, who founded the Arkansas Family Council more than three decades ago and is founder of the Education Alliance, the Arkansas Physician’s Resource Council and the Arkansas Justice Institute, has given every indication he’s far from just willing to concede.  

"We are mistaken if we believe legalizing drugs is about freedom and taxes,” he told told MarijuanaMoment.Net. “I wouldn’t want to try to make that case on Judgment Day. Legalizing drugs is about death and lies from the father of all lies. Please don’t fall for any of it. You can put a stop to this, and I hope and pray that you will. It was crafted by the marijuana industry and placed on the ballot through a petition drive funded by marijuana growers. They are trying to give themselves an uncontrollable monopoly."

The L.A. Times reports unlicensed dispensaries have become “hotbeds of crime” across that state, and stand as a "stark illustration" of how marijuana legalization there has been everything short of what it was touted to bring, further highlighting that while black market dispensaries can offer cheaper products most are untested and unregulated.

According to MJBizDaily.com, California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana nearly three decades ago in 1996, igniting an era that sparked the widespread legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana across the country. Currently, recreational marijuana is legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia.