Guest column: Why Issue 4 is right for Arkansas and what Melissa Fults gets wrong October 20, 2022 By Robbin Rahman Harvest Cannabis Dispensary, like most of the industry, is fully in support of Issue 4 because it will make cannabis legal in Arkansas – one of the central goals of every cannabis reform effort in the country and beyond. Obviously, Issue 4 can’t solve every problem in one fell swoop – few laws can do that. But what Issue 4 absolutely will do is to serve as a critically important stepping stone for cannabis reform in Arkansas. In addition to legalizing cannabis and stopping the senseless criminalization of the possession of small amounts of cannabis, Issue 4 also will bring significant tax dollars and employment opportunities to Arkansas. These wins make the choice to support Issue 4 easy for Harvest. Importantly, it isn’t just industry insiders that are excited about Issue 4: So many of Harvest’s patients have expressed an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation about Issue 4 and the new adult-use market that could be in Arkansas’ near future. I read recently about Melissa Fults’ new partnership with Jerry Cox’s Family Council to oppose the passage of Issue 4. Make no mistake, if Family Council and its billionaire donor Ron Cameron get their way, cannabis will be outlawed for another 100 years. These are the goals that Fults, a self-professed “cannabis advocate”, is willing to aid. I find that offensive by itself. But due to the combination of 1) her outrageous cooperation with the Family Council and 2) the utter hypocrisy of Fults’ words and actions, I feel compelled to call it out. Let’s talk about that hypocrisy. Fults recently claimed in an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that “If passed [Issue 4] also would limit the state Legislature’s ability to regulate cannabis, meaning future reforms would have to come through another ballot initiative, Fults said….This amendment is not a start; it is a brick wall….we can go no further.” I guess Fults forgot that her own amendment would have limited the Legislature’s ability to change cannabis laws in essentially the same way that is proposed in Issue 4. Fults also has taken issue with the fact that Issue 4 would cap dispensary and cultivation licenses. Of course, Fults’ own amendment contemplated a very similar limitation on licenses. In fact, under Fults amendment, there would have been even fewer cultivation licenses than permitted under Issue 4! Fults also claims that Issue 4 “does not include a provision that allows people to grow marijuana at home, which would give consumers priced out of the cannabis market a cheaper option.” Fults’ own amendment had no allowance for homegrow. So why does it now justify her mystifying alliance with Cox’s Family Council? In the televised debate, Fults seemed only too eager to spread total misinformation in service of her new partners. She stated multiple times that prices are unaffordably high at dispensaries. Of course, she could not be bothered to offer any facts to support this statement. Here are the facts: Harvest (like many other dispensaries) offers sales and deals almost every day of the week. For example, you can get an eighth of flower most days for $20-25 ($30 cheaper than when the industry first launched in 2019). I am aware of multiple dispensaries that routinely sell eighths of flower for between $5 and $10 everyday (that’s 3.5 grams of cannabis flower for as low as $1.40 per gram). Fults also claimed that there is a “shortage” of products in the state. This is pure fiction. Harvest purchases from every producer in the state and has not experienced a single “shortage” in nearly two years. Again — Fults traffics in hyperbole and fear, not facts. Why has no one asked her which products she believes are unaffordable and which dispensaries suffer from a “shortage”? Very quickly, it would become apparent that Fults is completely ignorant of the actual market in Arkansas. The bottom line here is that a person who purports to be a “cannabis advocate” has made common cause with Cox’s organization — an organization that views cannabis as a mortal sin and its users as criminals. Family Council is supported by a billionaire who has spent more than $1 million across two campaign committees to stop Arkansas cannabis reform dead in its tracks. This alliance between Fults and this organization should tell you everything you need to know about her dedication to progressive cannabis values. That Fults finds various provisions of Issue 4 repugnant without disclosing that she herself championed nearly identical provisions just a few months ago should tell you everything you need to know about her ethics. I fully embrace the idea that people must reach across the aisle to compromise, but this practice has its limits. If Fults’ efforts are successful, her legacy will not be that of a cannabis advocate, it will be as a regressive crusader who compromised her ethics and put her personal ambition above cannabis reform. Robbin Rahman is the executive director of Harvest Cannabis Dispensary in Conway, the regulatory chair of the Arkansas Cannabis Industry Association and an attorney at the Barber Law Firm in Little Rock.
