River Valley Relief in Fort Smith could add up to 150 jobs. Kansas City, Kan.-based Greenlight estimates adding 100 jobs in Arkansas with $2 million in new investment. They’re just two of many medical marijuana companies operating in Arkansas likely to add jobs and investment if voters approve recreational marijuana use for adults in November.
Polling suggests broad support for recreational, or what is also called adult use.
But there will be opposition. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor and head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under President George W. Bush, is against the November ballot question. He’s encouraging law enforcement groups to come out against the measure, telling members of the Arkansas Municipal Police Association not to be swayed by benefits being promoted by Responsible Growth Arkansas (RGA), the organization that worked to place legalization of recreational use on the November ballot.
“And so, once again, they’re selling a harmful drug to the citizens of Arkansas based upon promises that look good,” he said during the early August police association convention.
The Arkansas Family Council, a religious-based conservative lobbying group, has been vocal in opposition and is likely to be more active with messaging about what the group claims are numerous harmful individual and societal effects of marijuana use.
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