Medical marijuana bill up in smoke after Governor vetoes

LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders vetoed a invoice on Wednesday that will have allowed dispensaries to ship medical marijuana through drive-through home windows or supply automobiles.

“I just got a call yesterday that it was vetoed, or they were going to veto it and I was shocked,” stated State Rep. Aaron Pilkington, (R) District 45, who sponsored Home Invoice 1889.

In her veto letter for HB 1889, which barely handed in each chambers of the state legislature, Sanders stated the invoice would have expanded entry to usable marijuana.

Invoice sponsors and supporters say that’s not true, that the invoice was merely a matter of comfort for a lot of sufferers.

“We have patients that are extremely disabled that have a very difficult time walking, we have patients that are immunocompromised. Elderly patients—they have a hard time getting around. It would be so much more convenient to be able to drive up to the window,” stated Melissa Fults, spokesperson for the Arkansas Hashish Business Affiliation.

“It’s not less secure; you still have to have your medical marijuana card, you still have to have your ID. It’s ridiculous. It’s not going to cause people to use it more. It’s not going to cause it to get into somebody’s hands that’s not supposed to have it,” Fults stated of the invoice.

Sponsors say HB 1889 would have basically re-established COVID-era protocols that allowed card holders to get medical marijuana curbside.

“A lot of things we saw during COVID worked, there were no issues and they created convenience and helped lower costs,” Pilkington stated. “I just want to help patients who are wheelchair bound.”

Pilkington informed KATV he doesn’t help legalizing marijuana for recreation.

HB 1889 would even have allowed guests with out playing cards to tour dispensaries in the identical method they’ll tour cultivation services—after offering IDs and solely accompanied by employees. It could even have allowed supply of medical marijuana to recognized sufferers by one particular person, the place the legislation at present requires two folks within the supply automobile.

The invoice was simply the most recent effort by medical marijuana advocates and the hashish business to loosen restrictions in Arkansas, which continues to be coming to grips with the way to regulate medical marijuana because it grew to become authorized in 2016.

Pilkington beforehand sponsored HB 1784 (signed into legislation in 2023) that allowed medical marijuana cardholders to additionally possess a hid carry license within the state. Nonetheless, a poll measure to permit leisure marijuana was shot down by voters in 2022 and final 12 months, a poll difficulty to develop medical marijuana entry was shot down by the Arkansas Supreme Courtroom.

“Obviously I think people are still getting used to the fact that we’re a medical marijuana state, but it’s been almost ten years since we’ve had it,” Pilkington stated. “We need to figure out rules and regs that make sense, that help our patients, but at the same time not allow the system to be abused.”

“I think we’ve tried to strike a balance between those that disagree with the constitutional amendment that enabled medical marijuana to entrepreneurs that need to expand and grow their business and make it viable here in Arkansas,” stated State Sen. Joshua Bryant, (R) District 32, who additionally sponsored HB 1889.

“I think we’ll have that tug of war until the voters choose to do something different,” Bryant stated.

Bryant informed KATV he doesn’t imagine there will probably be sufficient help within the legislature to override the governor’s veto earlier than the session adjourns Could 5.