Arkansas Legislators Make Progress on Medical Marijuana Rules

Arkansas is getting the regulations squared away for its medical marijuana program. The Arkansas Senate gave its final approval for a bill that won’t require doctors to say whether marijuana is a better option for their patients with “certain medical conditions.” The bill was signed by Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Some confusion regarding the state legislators could really make decisions for their state that are opposite of federal law, according to KTBS 3 News. This debate took up a good portion of the day. The confusion simply stems from the federal illegality of marijuana and how to regulate it for medical use on a state level.

The constitutional amendment approved by voters required rules for the medical marijuana program to be due in March 2017. Legislators have mentioned to agencies that they actually had until May to set the program’s rules in place. Governor Hutchinson signed a bill regarding rules deadlines as well.