Medical Cannabis for Arkansas Patients discusses Arkansas' history with medical cannabis ballot initiatives. Issue 7, which would have allowed patients to grow cannabis at home, was rejected by the Arkansas Supreme Court. Issue 6 passed, allowing cannabis to be prescribed by physicians for 17 conditions. It establishes a regulated system of licensed vendors and manufacturers to ensure controlled content and deter abuse. The document argues medical cannabis has value and calls for further research and rescheduling of cannabis at the federal level.

1. Medical Cannabis for Arkansas Patients
Debra Booth
Healthcare Policy Presentation
Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act Issue 7

2. Supporters of Medical Cannabis Issue 7
• Provides an alternative to synthetic opioid pain medications
• Physicians agree with patients to be effective for pain management
• Many States implementing medicinal cannabis as a safer alternative to patient-centered pain management
represents almost half of our nation

3. Rejection of Issue 7
12 days prior to ballot vote

4. Issue 7 and Issue 6 Resolution
• Arkansas Medical Cannabis Ballot Issue 7 rejected
o Arkansas Supreme Court rejected from the ballot on October 27, 2016, citing invalid
signatures.
o Would have allowed poor individuals with limited access to cannabis dispensaries to grow
medicinal plants without physician oversight.
o Written so generally that practically any healthy adult with pain or queasiness will be able to
manipulate a way to use marijuana. Proposed 56 specific qualifying patient medical conditions.
• Arkansas Medical Cannabis Ballot Issue 6 passed
o Approved for Arkansas patients allowing 80% to use cannabis prescribed by a physician
o Does not allow patients to grow their cannabis plants at home keeping the use tightly regulated
to reduce abuse.
o Vows to aid sick individuals who currently verify the benefits they have obtained by its use.
Proposes only 17 specific qualifying patient medical conditions.

5. Arkansas’s Medical Cannabis Plan
Medical
Cannabis
Vendors Must
Registered
with State
Agencies
Manufactured
by
Government
guidelines
ensures
Controlled
Content
Sold by
prescription
only
Physician
guided use for
17 diagnosed
illnesses
Regulated by
Government
Agencies to
Deter Abuse
Potential

6. California
1996
Alaska, Oregon,
Washington 1998
Colorado,
Nevada,
Hawaii 2000
Montana,
Vermont 2004
Prior State Medicinal Cannabis Timelines
Rhode Island
2006
New Mexico
2007
Michigan
2008
Arizona, New
Jersey,
Washington DC
2010
Delaware
2011
Connecticut,
Massachusetts
2012
Illinois, Maine,
New Hampshire
2013
Maryland,
Minnesota, New
York 2014
Arkansas, Florida,
North Dakota, Ohio,
Pennsylannia 2016

7. Where do we go from here?
• Greater research expansion by
monitoring the existing medical
cannabis patient population
• Government reaffirms their original
confirmations that cannabis has
medical value and places it back on
the Pharmacopeia as a Schedule II
drug.
• All States move forward and allow
physician’s to recommended medical
cannabis for medical care

8. Should patients be
allowed to decide
to use cannabis for
pain relief?
Should physicians
be allowed to
prescribe cannabis
for treatment?
Should the federal
government
reinstate their twice
prior positions and
reschedule cannabis
as a class II?
Do you feel
cannabis has
medicinal value?
Thought Provoking Questions

9. References
Arkansas’s for Compassionate Care, Sponsors of: The 2016 Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act.
(2016). Read the amca. Retrieved from http://www.arcompassion.com/read_the_amca
Bacalar, N. (2014). A benefit of legal marijuana. Retrieved from
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/a-benefit-of-legal-marijuana/?_r=0
Ballotpedia. (2016). Arkansas medical marijuana act, issue 7. Retrieved from
https://ballotpedia.org/Arkansas_Medical_Cannabis_Act,_Issue_7_(2016)
Johannigman, S., & Eschiti, V. (2013). Medical use of marijuana in palliative care. Clinical
Journal of Oncology Nursing, 17(4), 360-362. http://dx.doi.org/10.1188/13.CJON.360-362
Koppel, B., Burst, J., Bronstein, J., Youssof, S., Gronseth, G., & Gloss, D. (2014, April 29).
Systemic review: efficacy and safety of medical marijuana in selected neurological disorders.
American Academy of Neurology, 82, 1556-1563.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000000363
Marijuana and cannabinoids: a neuroscience research summit [National Institute of Health
Meeting Summary]. (2016). Retrieved from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/sites/default/files/briefmjsummitmeetingsummary.pdf
Mason, D., Gardner, D., Hopkins-Outlaw, F., & O’Grady, E. (2015). Policy & politics in nursing
and health care, 7e (policy and politics in nursing and health) 7th edition (7e ed.). St Louis,
MI: Elsevier.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2016). Research report series : marijuana (NIH Publication
Number 16-3859). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Petrovska, B. B. (2012, May 8). Historical review of medicinal plant’s usage. Pharmocognosy
Review, 6(11), 1-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0973-7847.95849
ProCon. (2013). Historical timeline history of marijuana as medicine - 2900 BC to present.
Retrieved from
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.timeline.php?timelineID=000026#2900-bc-1599-
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