Legal Marijuana, Tort Reform Will Be 'Hot' Ballot Topics

Maylon T. Rice
Maylon T. Rice

The big card on the November ballot is, of course, the contest for the next president of the United States.

After that, well, it could be pretty-slim pickings for voters to digest in most of the rest of Arkansas this political season.

With only one statewide political race in Arkansas this election season -- that of a first-term U.S. senator fending off a last-minute Democratic rival -- will the voters in the state focus on state constitutional issues?

Probably not?

At least two or three of these constitutional questions, in the next few weeks ahead, will be generating much more publicity than the lackluster U.S. Senate race.

These constitutional controversies over the two medical marijuana issues and the lone change in the way that lawsuits are filed and limits in damage cases (i.e. tort reform) might need attention from the general public.

Already seeking to buttress his 2018 re-election bid, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has been a soft endorser of GOP nominee Donald Trump, has begun attacking the medical marijuana ballot initiatives -- both of them.

At a recent meeting of the powerful lobby of the Association of Arkansas Counties' 48th Annual Conference, Hutchinson said he will oppose the two proposals on the November general election ballot that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

"I will be opposing the two marijuana initiatives," Hutchinson told the conference. "You can imagine the enforcement issues and the regulatory issues that are involved with this. I do not see any tax benefits for the state. I see more of a tax drain for the state."

Hutchinson did, however, warn the county sheriffs, county judges and other county-elected officials in attendance that the measures might indeed pass.

Back in 2012, a medical marijuana proposal was narrowly defeated -- by a 2-percent margin.

Hutchinson-appointed Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Greg Bledsoe, a Rogers-raised physician, and son of state Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, has been ordered to lead the efforts to oppose both marijuana proposals.

So far, Bledsoe has appealed on social media for speaking engagements to present the anti-medical issue. The Arkansas Family Council and other conservative groups seem to be lining up to oppose the medical marijuana.

Spokesman David Couch, the sponsor of the medical marijuana measure still being reviewed, said fees and taxes in his proposal would more than pay for the cost of regulating the drug. "It's going to be revenue positive, for the state."

And Melissa Fults, the head of Arkansans for Compassionate Care, which is behind the marijuana measure approved for the November ballot, told the Associated Press that the regulations would also be covered by taxes and license fees.

Another measure that is set to generate much in-state legal debate, as well as raising sinful amounts of money to be spent in a spirited advertising campaign and outrage public controversy, is tort reform.

At play is a tort-reform proposal set to limit the damages that can be found in cases of injury, neglect and harm found in civil suits. Those awards will be capped at $250,000.

This change in the legal juris prudence of courts can severely limit judgments in medical cases such as hospitals, nursing homes and managed-care facilities.

Lawyers on both sides of the issue are lining up, as the proposal seeks to allow the state legislature to set caps and rules on this issue.

Turning the procedure of the courts back to the legislature and seeking to limit the damages imposed by local juries in medical neglect, injury and abuse cases will lower health costs, one side says.

The other side says look out -- it is a pig-in-a-poke, sponsored, in fact, by the nursing home lobby.

So who said it was going to be all about Trump vs. Clinton until Nov. 8.

Stay tuned.

MAYLON RICE, AN AWARD-WINNING COLUMNIST, HAS WRITTEN BOTH NEWS AND COLUMNS FOR SEVERAL NWA PUBLICATIONS AND HAS BEEN WRITING FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

Editorial on 09/07/2016