The Arkansas Senate on Monday rejected legislation that would ban the smoking of medical marijuana.
The Senate's 10-15 vote on Senate Bill 357 by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow, fell 14 votes short of the 24 required for approval in the Senate. Nine senators didn't vote on the bill. The bill requires a two-thirds vote for approval in the 35-member Senate because it would amend the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, which voters approved in the November general election.
The Senate later expunged the initial vote to clear the way for another try on the bill.
"We didn't have enough people in here that we were able to take a stand on the bill, so hopefully we can get over some of the folks that aren't voting on it," Rapert said afterward.
[BILL TRACKER: See the status of all marijuana-related bills in Arkansas Legislature]
SB357 would change the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment to disallow a person to "smoke marijuana in any location in Arkansas." The bill cleared the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee last week.
Rapert told senators that there is nothing medicinal about smoking marijuana and that smoking medical marijuana will damage lungs and lead to health problems such as chronic cough and acute bronchitis.
The states of Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio ban smoking of medical marijuana, he said.
But Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, warned that if the Legislature bans smoking medical marijuana, it would clear the way for a "recreational marijuana" measure on the ballot within a few years.
"Our motto is regnat populus and the people rule," he said.
The legislation is in direct violation of what Arkansans thought they were voting for when they approved the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment last November, said Hutchinson.
Rapert countered that the state already has "recreational marijuana," and people will be injured and die as a result of what he considers to be a "loose" constitutional amendment.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican and the uncle of Sen. Hutchinson, has said he's against a smoking ban. "Clearly, when the people voted for it, they probably had smoking on their mind -- smoking in the context that it would be one of the delivery systems," he said in January.
In other action, the Senate voted 24-0 to approve House Bill 1451 by Rep. Trevor Drown, R-Dover, that would bar a member of the Arkansas National Guard or the U.S. military from being a designated caregiver or qualifying patient under medical marijuana law.
The bill also would bar the possession, smoking or engaging in the use of marijuana on any property that is under control of the Arkansas National Guard or the U.S. military under the amendment. The bill goes back to the House to consider a Senate amendment to the legislation.
On the other side of the state Capitol, the House voted 87-1 to approve House Bill 1460 by Rep. Carlton Wing, R-North Little Rock, which aims to keep workers in "safety sensitive positions" off medical marijuana.
Employers would have the discretion to fire or reassign workers in those positions if they have reason to believe they are high on the job.
After the roll call, attorney David Couch of Little Rock, who led the campaign for the constitutional amendment, tweeted that the House "voted to declare working at McDonald's to be 'safety sensitive' effectively preventing those folk from medical marijuana."
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 03/07/2017