The same night the United States elected its 45th President, Arkansan voters passed a bill that legalized medical marijuana in their state.
The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, otherwise known as Issue 6, sought to establish a system for the cultivation, acquisition and distribution of medical marijuana for qualifying patients.
Arkansas officials have 120 days to establish a Medical Marijuana Commission and kick-start the process. The commission will be made up of five elected officials and is responsible for awarding licenses to cultivation facilities and dispensaries before the 120-day period is up.
On the public health side of things, the Arkansas Department of Health uses this time to focus on the patients. The department will set up a medical marijuana card registry for qualified patients and then monitor the amount of marijuana that patients are given at each dispensary visit.
Megan Mirivel, public information officer at the Arkansas Department of Health, calls this 120-day period a time for “rulemaking and planning.”
“We are currently in the beginning stages of rules and regulations that will govern this process,” she said.
Issue 6 states that in order to be considered an eligible patient, a person must provide a written note from his or her physician proving a qualifying medical condition: cancer, PTSD, Alzheimer’s Disease, Tourette’s syndrome and any other medical illness approved for medical marijuana by the Arkansas Department of Health.
David A. Couch, attorney at law from Little Rock, Arkansas, created the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment and passionately saw it through until the day it passed.
“If I wanted to get marijuana in Arkansas, I could walk out my front door and most likely find someone selling pot within 10 minutes,” Couch said. “What this new amendment does is put sick people who are buying it illegally into a system where they can purchase marijuana to ease their pain without breaking the law.”
Couch said he thinks this new amendment will have a huge impact on Memphians. He said Memphians and other out-of-state residents could take advantage of this new amendment by crossing the bridge to Arkansas, acquiring a medical marijuana card and consuming marijuana.
It is, however, illegal to cross the Arkansas-Tennessee state line while in possession of marijuana.
Despite the limitation of the 120-day period for the Department of Health and the Medical Marijuana Commission to finalize the distribution process, Couch said he does not expect the first medical marijuana card to be issued until “around this time next year.”
The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment was projected to narrowly pass, which it did, but what sponsors didn’t expect was its impact and affect on the rest of the world.
“The day after the amendment passed, I received positive and congratulatory calls from all over the freakin’ world,” David Couch said. “My full-time job is a trial lawyer, so I created this bill for fun because it’s something I’m passionate about. Look what that passion and fun got for my state.”
