An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution authorizing possession and use of
cannabis (i.e., marijuana) by adults, but acknowledging that possession and sale of
cannabis remain illegal under federal law; authorizing licensed adult use
dispensaries to sell adult use cannabis produced by licensed medical and adult use
cultivation facilities, including cannabis produced under Amendment 98, beginning
March 8, 2023 and amending Amendment 98 concerning medical marijuana in
pertinent part, including: amending Amendment 98, § 3(e) to allow licensed medical
or adult use dispensaries to receive, transfer, or sell marijuana to and from medical
and adult use cultivation facilities, or other medical or adult use dispensaries, and to
accept marijuana seeds from individuals legally authorized to possess them;
repealing Amendment 98, § 8(c) regarding residency requirements; repealing and
replacing Amendment 98, §§ 8(e)(5)(A)-(B) and 8(e)(8)(A)-(F) with requirements for
child-proof packaging and restrictions on advertising that appeals to children;
amending Amendment 98, § 8(k) to exempt individuals owning less than 5% of
dispensary or cultivation licensees from criminal background checks; amending
Amendment 98, § 8(m)(1)(A) to remove a prohibition on dispensaries supplying,
possessing, manufacturing, delivering, transferring, or selling paraphernalia that
requires the combustion of marijuana; amending Amendment 98, § 8(m)(3)(A)(i) to
increase the marijuana plants that a dispensary licensed under that amendment may
grow or possess at one time from 50 to 100 plus seedlings; amending Amendment 98,
§ 8(m)(4)(A)(ii) to allow cultivation facilities to sell marijuana to dispensaries, adult
use dispensaries, processors, or other cultivation facilities; amending Amendment 98,
§§ 10(b)(8)(A) and 10(b)(8)(G) to provide that limits on the amount of medical
marijuana dispensed shall not include adult use cannabis purchases; amending
Amendment 98, §§ 12(a)(1) and 12(b)(1) to provide that dispensaries and dispensary
agents may dispense marijuana for adult use; amending Amendment 98, § 13(a) to
allow medical and adult use cultivation facilities to sell marijuana to adult use
dispensaries; repealing Amendment 98, § 17 and prohibiting state or local taxes on
the cultivation, manufacturing, sale, use, or possession of medical marijuana;
repealing Amendment 98, § 23 and prohibiting legislative amendment, alteration, or
repeal of Amendment 98 without voter approval; amending Amendment 98, §
24(f)(1)(A)(i) to allow transporters or distributors licensed under Amendment 98 to
deliver marijuana to adult use dispensaries and cultivation facilities licensed under
this amendment; requiring the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division of the
Department of Finance and Administration (“ABC”) to regulate issuance and renewal
of licenses for cultivation facilities and adult use dispensaries and to regulate
licensees; requiring adult use dispensaries to purchase cannabis only from licensed
medical or adult use cultivation facilities and dispensaries; requiring issuance of Tier
One adult use cultivation facility licenses to cultivation facility licensees under
Amendment 98 as of November 8, 2022, to operate on the same premises as their
existing facilities and forbidding issuance of additional Tier One adult use cultivation
licenses; requiring issuance of adult use dispensary licenses to dispensary licensees
under Amendment 98 as of November 8, 2022, for dispensaries on their existing
premises and at another location licensed only for adult use cannabis sales; requiring
issuance by lottery of 40 additional adult use dispensary licenses and 12 Tier Two
adult use cultivation facility licenses; prohibiting cultivation facilities and
dispensaries near schools, churches, day cares, or facilities serving the
developmentally disabled that existed before the earlier of the initial license
application or license issuance; requiring all adult use only dispensaries to be located
at least five miles from dispensaries licensed under Amendment 98; prohibiting
individuals from holding ownership interests in more than 18 adult use dispensaries;
requiring ABC adoption of rules governing licensing, renewal, ownership transfers,
location, and operation of cultivation facilities and adult use dispensaries licensed
under this amendment, as well as other rules necessary to administer this
amendment; prohibiting political subdivisions from using zoning to restrict the
location of cultivation facilities and dispensaries in areas not zoned residential-use
only when this amendment is adopted; allowing political subdivisions to hold local
option elections to prohibit retail sales of cannabis; allowing a state supplemental
sales tax of up to 10% on retail cannabis sales for adult use, directing a portion of
such tax proceeds to be used for an annual stipend for certified law enforcement
officers, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and drug court programs
authorized by the Arkansas Drug Court Act, § 16-98-301 with the remainder going
into general revenues, and requiring the General Assembly to appropriate funds from
licensing fees and sales taxes on cannabis to fund agencies regulating cannabis;
providing that cultivation facilities and adult use dispensaries are otherwise subject
to the same taxation as other for-profit businesses; prohibiting excise or privilege
taxes on retail sales of cannabis for adult use; providing that this amendment does
not limit employer cannabis policies, limit restrictions on cannabis combustion on
private property, affect existing laws regarding driving under the influence of
cannabis, permit minors to buy, possess, or consume cannabis, or permit cultivation,
production, distribution, or sale of cannabis not expressly authorized by law; and
prohibiting legislative amendment, alteration, or repeal of this amendment without
voter approval.