Settlement reached in marijuana machine suit

FILE — Jerry Cox, president of Family Council, speaks in Little Rock on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, as he motions to a a cardboard cutout of a Medbox machine.
FILE — Jerry Cox, president of Family Council, speaks in Little Rock on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2012, as he motions to a a cardboard cutout of a Medbox machine.

A federal judge has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by a company that makes medical marijuana dispensing machines against a conservative Arkansas group after both sides reached a settlement.

U.S. District Judge James Moody on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit that Medicine Dispensing Systems Inc. filed against the Family Council Action Committee and its president, citing the settlement.

The company sued after Cox claimed last year that similar machines could be used to dispense marijuana in convenience stores if Arkansas voters approved a measure legalizing medical marijuana. Voters rejected the legalization measure in November. The company claimed Cox made a number of statements that defamed the company.

Cox on Friday said his group agreed to not refer to the machines in certain ways, but declined to elaborate on the settlement.

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