A recent court ruling could alter the future of Arkansas’ medical cannabis industry after Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan “Chip” Welch ruled June 14 that more than two dozen laws regulating the market are “void,” according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Welch issued his ruling after determining that lawmakers overstepped their legal bounds in drafting 27 of the state’s medical cannabis laws, which ultimately changed Amendment 98 to the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in the 2016 election to legalize medical cannabis, the news outlet reported.
Welch wrote in his ruling that the amendment cannot be changed by the Legislature, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The laws declared unconstitutional and thus void by Welch’s ruling include rules on THC limits for medical cannabis edibles, a ban on prerolls, and advertising restrictions for the cannabis industry, among other regulations, according to the news outlet.
One law impacted by the ruling allows medical cannabis processors to operate in the state, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported; the original language of the 2016 ballot measure only authorized the state to issue cultivation and dispensary licenses, and lawmakers later approved legislation allowing a license type for processors.
Attorney General Tim Griffin has indicated plans to appeal the case to the Supreme Court, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
As for now, it seems like business as usual for the medical cannabis industry as the legal ramifications of Welch’s decision play out.
“Absent further guidance, the state’s medical marijuana industry should continue to operate as usual,” Jeff LeMaster, a spokesman for Griffin’s office, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Welch’s ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in 2022 by Good Day Farm Arkansas LLC, a Pine Bluff-based cultivator, and Capital City Medicinal LLC, a Little Rock-based dispensary. The plaintiffs claimed that lawmakers circumvented the constitutional amendment process by passing constitutional changes like regular laws, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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