cannabisnews.com: Petition on ‘Pot’ Falls Short of Names Petition on ‘Pot’ Falls Short of Names Posted by CN Staff on July 28, 2004 at 08:00:48 PT By Laura Kellams Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Secretary of State Charlie Daniels rejected Tuesday a proposed initiated act to legalize marijuana for medical use because the proponents’ petition didn’t contain enough Arkansas voters’ signatures to qualify for the ballot. Daniels’ announcement doesn’t necessarily signal defeat for the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana, however. The group has 30 days to submit more signatures to reach the 64,456 necessary to put the issue before voters Nov. 2. Denele Campbell of West Fork, one of the group’s leaders, said supporters expected the denial and have been collecting more signatures through volunteers and a paid contractor. "I don’t want to say we’re optimistic or feeling comfortable that we’re going to accomplish this, but we’ve got until [the close of business on Aug. 25]," Campbell said. Daniels certified that the alliance submitted 29,947 valid signatures, fewer than half the number needed to qualify. But Campbell said about 17,000 signatures, more than 25 percent of those originally submitted, were not counted by the secretary of state’s office because there was an error in the notary public’s signature on them. Janet Miller, spokesman for Daniels, said the eligible signatures on those petition pages will be counted if the notary’s signature is corrected. Those pages haven’t been reviewed, so it’s unknown how many signatures would be added to the total, she said. Campbell said she hopes that those signatures, once validated, will raise the total collected to about 40,000. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act would allow Arkansans with "debilitating medical conditions" to use marijuana, which they or a caregiver grow, on the advice of a physician. Users would obtain a registry card from the state Department of Health. A diagnosis of AIDS, cancer or glaucoma, among other conditions, would qualify a patient for a registry card, if a physician recommended it. Campbell said the alliance has raised about $10,000 in the past couple of weeks, since the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project pulled out of the state effort, citing the expense of the campaign combined with the need to gather more signatures. Up to that time, Campbell said the Arkansas campaign had been directed by the Washington group. The campaign had been funded by $336,000 in donations arranged by the Marijuana Policy Project from Peter Lewis, an Ohio billionaire who has supported similar efforts in other states. Lewis is chairman of the insurance company Progressive Corp. At the direction of the Marijuana Policy Project, the alliance spent $228,500 on a contract with the Southwest Group of Las Vegas to gather signatures in Arkansas. Campbell said she continues to wonder where that money went. "I think it’s astonishing that they were paid $228,500 and only managed to arrive at approximately 30,000 valid signatures," Campbell said. A telephone message left for officials with the Southwest Group was not immediately returned Tuesday, and the company has previously declined to comment. Campbell said some Arkansas supporters at first blamed her because she has long led the state effort to legalize marijuana as medicine, and she is the treasurer of the ballot committee. "I pointed out to them that they’re shooting at the wrong messenger," Campbell said. Bruce Mirken, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, said he doesn’t know exactly what happened with the signature-gathering process and that the Southwest Group would have to answer any questions about it. Marijuana Policy Project pulled out of the Arkansas effort because of a combination of factors, he said. "We knew there was going to be another month of effort to securely get up to the signature amount, plus the cost of the campaign," Mirken said. "The combination of those was the issue. It doesn’t sound like that situation has changed." Campbell said the alliance is now paying a Little Rock consultant, Phyllis Thompson, to gather signatures. Thompson and her staff have gathered about 5,000 so far, Campbell said. Campbell said she is confident that if the measure is on the ballot, Arkansans will approve it. Polls in recent years have shown that about twothirds of Arkansans support the idea, she said. The Arkansas Poll, conducted by the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, reported in 2001 that 63 percent of respondents supported legalization of marijuana for medical use. The Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas, of which Campbell is director, hired Zogby International of New York to conduct a poll in 2002. The 2002 poll results were similar, with about 62 percent answering favorably to a question about the prospect of "a law that would allow people with cancer and other debilitating medical conditions to register in a state-regulated program permitting them to grow and use a limited amount of marijuana for medical purposes." The Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana is the ballot committee for the Alliance for Reform of Drug Policy in Arkansas. Campbell acknowledged that opinions of the ballot measure might change during a campaign, especially with an opposition group working to defeat the measure. Larry Page, director of Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, said Tuesday that he was glad to hear that fewer than 30,000 signatures were validated on the medical marijuana initiative. He said his group is still gearing up for a campaign, however. "Obviously we think medicinal marijuana is sort of voodoo medical policy and has a lot more risk than it does potential benefit," Page said. "We’d like to see it not be qualified for the ballot, but if it does, we’ll try to apprise people of all the facts." Another proposal supported by a petition has been certified by Daniels for the November ballot. It is a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. It would bar civil unions. Two proposed constitutional amendments referred by the Legislature also will be on the ballot. One would expand the number of terms legislators can serve. The other would allow the Legislature to issue hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds to finance infrastructure improvements to attract major industries. The Legislature also has referred to the November ballot the question of whether to raise the minimum property tax rate for school district operations by 3 mills. The current minimum is 25 mills. A mill is one tenth of a cent. Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (AR)Author: Laura KellamsPublished: Wednesday, July 28, 2004Copyright: 2004 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.Contact: voices ardemgaz.comWebsite: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Related Articles & Web Site:ARDPark http://www.ardpark.org/ Group Aims To Put Marijuana on Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19194.shtmlCampaign To Legalize Medical ‘Pot’ Not Overhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19177.shtmlBallot Drive for Pot Rx in Arkansas Loses Its Legshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19165.shtml67,000 Add Names To Get Pot Initiative On Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19132.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #1 posted by ron on July 28, 2004 at 09:56:03 PT Incompetence or something more sinister MPP misplaced 6,000 signatures in Nevada. This has doomed reform efforts in that state for the November election.In the future, why anyone would want to campaign with a group that would pull out so close to the end - as they have done in Arkansas? How many other petitions cost their sponsors $7/signature? Why is MPP's polling information in Detroit "proprietary"? (All Smoked Up - CNews July 28). The Vermont story sounds good (Medical Marijuana Lobby Spends at Record Pace - CNews July 27), but success cost almost forty thousand dollars a month this year alone. Can anyone suggest just how this money was spent. I'm assuming some kind of "legal bribery' went on. Let's not forget that MPP recently proposed mandatory minimums for distribution of cannabis. Like unkat27, I have a built in suspicion of advocacy groups. "Friends of the Forest" could be a Weyerheuser front for all most of us know."Forget about the problem - just adjust the focus" is the PR mantra to cover up corrupt business practices.MPP's focus seems to be wandering lately. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment