Title:
Heartbreaking loss for Issue 5
Message:
I’m very sad to report that despite a valiant effort, Issue 5 has been defeated by the narrowest of margins. As of this morning, with about 96% of the votes counted, Issue 5 has 48.6% of the vote, trailing by less than 30,000 votes out of over one million votes cast. Barring a late surprise, patients in Arkansas who need medical marijuana will continue to be subject to criminal penalties simply for trying to alleviate their suffering.
Given the challenges they faced, the team at Arkansans for Compassionate Care is owed a well-deserved congratulations for their efforts. Collecting the more than 100,000 signatures it took to get the initiative on the ballot was an impressive victory alone. And the 48.6% of the vote Issue 5 received is more than the pundits, and even many supporters, thought the initiative would receive given Arkansas' political culture.
Last night’s razor-thin margin, along with passage of a medical marijuana initiative in Massachusetts and measures to regulate marijuana in Colorado and Washington, shows that our opponents are on the wrong side of history. For those patients in Arkansas who are still waiting, today’s defeat stings but it won’t be long now.
Onward!
