The Arkansas Attorney General Playing Possum with Pot Proposals

Recently in the news, the Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, has been reporting to the media on a few rejected pot proposals, in hopes, we believe, to somehow confuse the public about two already approved cannabis issues currently collecting voter signatures. It would seem by her tweets on her Twitter account she made on July 2nd, she set out to confuse the citizens of Arkansas, inferring that the popular name and ballot title she rejected was to legalize marijuana. However, that proposal, which she provides a pdf link to, was to legalize medical cannabis. Currently, there is only one approved initiative with the word “marijuana” in its popular name and ballot title, and it is the “Arkansas Hemp and Marijuana Amendment”, that was approved for petition circulation November 3, 2014, by the former Attorney General, Dustin McDaniel. These rejected proposals submitted by Robert Reed, have absolutely nothing to do with the Arkansas C.A.L.M., already approved initiative out there collecting voter signatures, but the Attorney General's failure to tell the public was a disservice to the citizens of Arkansas, it caused a massive state of confusion to our supporters, to those who have signed our amendment petition, and to those who were in the process of registering to vote so they could sign the petition, and we demand clarity.

One can only wonder why the Attorney General is even reporting to the media on these current rejections. What is the purpose to report these to the major news media outlets if not to confuse the voters of the approved proposal of similar initiatives out there collecting signatures? The “Arkansas Hemp and Marijuana Amendment” had three rejections before it was certified in November, and its rejections never got the media coverage of those submitted by Robert Reed. Also, when the amendment was finally approved, there was no media to report on its approval, except by KATV 7, and we had to make them aware of its approved status before it was reported. We are very thankful for that news coverage by Matt Mershon, who had produced a wonderful piece on our Vice President and Co-Founder, Fredrick Porter, and other than KATV 7, we had no other state media outlets reporting of its approved status.

Robert Reed, the sponsor of these rejected proposals, is now demanding his ambiguous proposals be expedited to ballot. He believes that the current Attorney General is somehow biased in her rejections of his proposed amendments, and proposes to file a lawsuit to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Robert Reed doesn't appear to have a case, as those proposals he submitted are ambiguous, have multiple typing errors, omissions, and appear to try to confuse the public even more, as his submissions cite preemptive federal law; which means even if it were victorious at the ballot, his proposed amendment wouldn't go into effect unless federal law changed regarding marijuana. Who is he, and what is his reason for not supporting the already approved initiatives? He says he wants to legalize cannabis, but his proposals seem to reveal otherwise. He is playing divide and conquer, and Mr. Reed needs to pick a side, and stop confusing the people of Arkansas. If anyone has a case against the Attorney General, it is Arkansas C.A.L.M. and Arkansans for Compassionate Care, for her failure to report that these current rejected proposals do not effect the already approved, similar ballot initiatives out there collecting voter signatures.