This is what it says.

This was one of those regions in which marijuana(and opiates as well, btw)was primarily banned due to outright racism against Mexican-Americans and African-Americans.....as opposed to Northern areas, in which "substitution&quot you may recognize this as the precursor to the more modern "gateway" theory)was the most significant fear, so if the Natural State gets over this problem.....then it shouldn't be all that much of a challenge for the rest of the country, because Ark. is one of the most conservative states in the country. There IS hope. Let's work to make this reality throughout the nation.

for several reasons.


1. The Internet is connecting the American People like nothing before and as this happens our ideas and ideals become more homogenized. It also serves to counter long time top down one way authoritarianism forms of media ie: T.V. and to a lesser degree radio and even major news papers which has in the past formed the basis for the peoples' definitions of reality.

The Internet by its very nature increases literacy.

In short the American People are waking up to confront this 70+ year reefer madness; tragic hoax which has been played against them.

2. In regards to the economics and medicinal power of cannabis, the genie is out of the bottle and in these times of heavy debt, wages not keeping up to inflation, the skyrocketing cost of health care, a world record breaking prison population, this provides some forms of alleviation, certainly not the cure all but common sense and logic dictates this can only help.

3. I believe racial attitudes are improving even in the South as the world becomes smaller, urbanization increases and we all become increasingly connected to each other via the Information Superhighway. In one sense the Internet is the technological culmination of Martin Luther King's dream, our debate and arguments are judged on their merit and our overall, long term, on line character, here we're all pixel colored.

so much. Who knew back in the day that Cannabis and Hemp would come to the Rescue?!

thanks for your OP, Uncle Joe

There was an initiative on the Arkansas ballot 2 years ago to legalize medical marijuana, and it failed, albeit by a somewhat narrow margin. This current ballot initiative probably goes a little too far-- if the *medical* marijuana initiative failed, then a *recreational* marijuana initiative is almost assuredly doomed to fail as well.

The northwestern part of the state is booming, thanks in large part to Wal-Mart, the University of Arkansas, a decent regional airport, various tourist destinations and recreational facilities, and a major retirement community. The unemployment rate is far below the national average, although some factories, like Kraft, have packed up and moved elsewhere.

On the other hand, the eastern part of the state, popularly known as "The Delta", has been in the economic doldrums like, forever. I imagine that some of the rice growers in the east are doing well, though, especially those who can grow the "Koshihikari" variety, since it can be sold to Japanese nationals in the US for a price that is much higher than the regular Riceland stuff.

The Little Rock area seems to be doing OK as well, but much of the rest of the state outside of the northwest is pretty sluggish. But the cost of living is generally lower than in much of the rest of the country.

which failed by a narrow margin.

Do you know how the vote broke down, which regions or areas primarily supported it and where it was most opposed?

It lost by only about 30,000 votes, out of more than a million cast. This article gives some explanation about supporters and opponents. I especially liked the quote by a resident of Fayetteville who was an outspoken opponent:

"This is not California. This is a safe town. You start promoting that and legalizing that for medical purposes and then it's going to lead to something else and then something else and then it's going to be worse than what it is."

Apparently, he was not living in Fayetteville back in the '70s, when it was a fairly safe town even though the Dream Merchant head shop was doing a very brisk business on Dickson Street, just a stone(r)'s throw from the university.

http://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Medical_Marijuana_Question,_Issue_5_%282012%29

So I guess the next step is to get enough signatures.



Peace to you, Art.

I might make it back in time to sign this year's petition. (I was in town 2 years ago when they were circulating the medical petition. Heck, even my mother supported it, although I'm not sure if she would support the recreational petition).

ambiguity, the what ifs?

Legalization is being on the offense against our present day drug policy failures, it's black and white, the pro and cons can be debated on those merits, how legalization can positively affect the economy, reduce our exploding prison population, diminish the enrichment and empowerment of organized crime and cartels from prohibition, all the wasted money on prosecuting cannabis users and how many lives have been lost or ruined by the war against cannabis and conversely it could be used for medicinal purposes as well.

It seems to me just trying to pass a medicinal proposal puts the proponents on the defensive of what if the patients share their weed with non-sick people?

3% of the vote is pretty close perhaps Arkansas will carry it over the line this time.

I hope so.

It's different from most of the other Old South states. While much of the southern part of the state is still "Deep South", much of the north is not. The state is pretty conservative, but there's a libertarian streak running through it as well. I think that limiting the initiative to medical marijuana last time might have garnered support from the elderly population (I signed the petition in front of a municipal facility that is frequented by lots of elderly users), but they might not be supportive if it is just treated as a recreational drug, rather than a medicinal drug.

Saying that,I wonder how many of my former high school classmates support the current initiatives. Back in high school ('70s), nearly everyone in my honors class openly admitted to using marijuana in a poll taken by my English teacher. Now that most of them have entered a stage of life where body pain is starting to become commonplace, I wonder how many of them would support the MMJ initiative, and how many would support the recreational initiative?

78,133 are needed, and those have to be from a specified minimum of signatures in 15 of the seventy five counties in Arkansas.

Hope they get it on the ballot!

might as well be this one!

So I guess I won't be able to sign the petition.

I suggest they focus on counties that have lots of college students and/or a large elderly population, as well as a relatively large overall population. Maybe they could focus on Benton, Washington, Craighead, Pulaski, Columbia, Jefferson, Baxter, Garland, Saline, Sebastian, Mississippi, Pope, Crittenden, Carroll and perhaps White counties. Heck, probably the whole town of Eureka Springs would sign the petition.