LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe said Tuesday that if a ballot initiative to make medical marijuana legal in Arkansas gets on the ballot he expects to vote against it, though he does not plan to campaign against it.
Members of the group Arkansans for Compassionate Care turned in signatures to the secretary of state’s office last week. By this afternoon Secretary of State Mark Martin had not yet announced whether the group had submitted the 62,507 signatures of registered voters needed to place the measure on the November ballot.
“I just don’t think I’m going to vote for it,” Beebe told reporters, explaining that “I worry about whether or not it would be abused.”
Asked if he would campaign against the proposal, Beebe said probably not.
“I can’t wade in on every single issue,” he said.
The proposed initiated act would allow up to 30 medical marijuana dispensaries in the state but would give cities and counties the option of banning them. The marijuana would only be available to people with prescriptions for certain health conditions, including chronic pain, glaucoma, Hepatitis C and those who are terminally ill.
Other groups turned in signatures last week in support of two proposed constitutional amendments to allow casinos in the state and a proposed initiated act to raise the state severance tax on natural gas from 5 percent to 7 percent. Beebe has said he opposes all three measures.