The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment has not yet received enough valid signatures to make the November ballot, but backers qualified for more time to submit petitions.
According to a letter sent by the secretary of state's office on Thursday, David Couch, the Little Rock-based attorney who backs the amendment, submitted 72,309 valid signatures.
Couch needed 63,725 valid signatures to qualify for a 30-day extension. He needs 84,859 valid signatures to make the ballot.
It shouldn't be a problem to submit the remaining signatures by Aug. 28, he said in an interview.
"I have, in hand, combined with what the secretary of state has verified, enough to qualify for the ballot," Couch said. "We will probably continue to collect signatures for another two weeks to get a cushion in order to fend off any potential signature challenges."
After he submitted 99,626 signatures on July 8, he continued collecting signatures. At the time, he said he did not expect to make the ballot on the first attempt.
The goal is about 95,000 valid signatures, he said Thursday.
The secretary of state's office has already qualified the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, a rival measure, for the November ballot.
Couch worked with Arkansans for Compassionate Care -- which backs the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act -- on a proposed 2012 medical-marijuana measure that fell just short of approval by voters in that year's general election.
After the 2012 election, the two split over a "grow-your-own" provision, and they pursued separate proposals for this election year.
The Family Council Action Committee, a conservative group, has vowed to oppose both measures.
"This is recreational marijuana by another name," Jerry Cox, executive director of the committee, said of the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment in a Thursday statement. "This amendment establishes a powerful marijuana industry in Arkansas, and it puts that industry largely beyond the reach of Arkansas' lawmakers and citizens."
Metro on 07/29/2016