Governor and business leaders denounce legalization, Responsible Growth responds

@zshannonz stood alongside @AsaHutchinson, @ARStateChamber & @ArFB to encourage Arkansans to vote #NoToIssue4: “[Issue 4] will make roads less safe, limit the pool of eligible workers & provide a significant hardship to trucking, a service we all depend on.” pic.twitter.com/tVvSWF9gMa

— Arkansas Trucking (@ARTrucking) October 31, 2022

Responsible Growth responded to the governor’s remarks Monday afternoon, saying that three of the top five states for manufacturing have already legalized cannabis and said the “sky won’t fall” if Arkansas does the same.

Responsible Growth, the sponsor of the Arkansas Adult Use Cannabis Amendment, scheduled its own press conference for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to “address facts about Issue 4.” The event will be held outside the Red and Blue Events Center at 1415 W. 7th Street in Little Rock.

Hutchinson spoke Monday alongside Stanley Hill of the Farm Bureau of Arkansas, Shannon Newton of the Arkansas Trucking Association, Randy Zook of the state Chamber of Commerce and Haskell Dickinson, a former chair of the Associated General Contractors of Arkansas. 

Dickinson said legalization would be a “nightmare” for his industry. 

“It’s a nightmare for the industry, for the people we have to work on the highways and buildings around the state,” said Haskell Dickinson, former chairman of the Associated General Contractors of Arkansas. “We will have a challenge determining who can come to work… we don’t know how to handle it and no one else does either.”

Newton said legalized cannabis would make it harder to recruit truck drivers at a time when the state is already experiencing a shortage. 

Citing a shortage of nearly 78,000 truck drivers nationwide and as many as 2,400 in Arkansas, Newton added that permitting recreational marijuana would make it even harder to recruit drivers to an industry that already has a limited pool of candidates.

“The potential negative impact on our industry’s ability to recruit and retain the woefully-needed professional drivers to continue to deliver the standard of living that we all enjoy, should be obvious,” she added.

Newton also quoted statistics from Nevada and Washington, two states that have legalized recreational cannabis, that showed an increase in workers testing positive for cannabis. 

Robert McLarty, campaign director for Responsible Growth Arkansas, emailed the campaign’s response to the opposition group’s press conference. 

“With all due respect to the Governor, Fact: Three of 5 of the top manufacturing states in the country have adult-use cannabis or medical cannabis or both. Like an old scare tactic of the Halloween sequel, today’s press conference repeats yesterday’s claims that the sky will fall. It didn’t fall in 2016 and won’t fall once Arkansas voters pass Issue 4.”  

Farm Bureau has launched a statewide radio advertising campaign against Issue 4, Talk Business reported.  

At the end of the press conference, Hutchinson responded to a reporter’s question about why employees using cannabis would be different than employees using alcohol when they are not at work, according to Talk Business.

Gov. Hutchinson closed the press conference by answering a reporter’s question if legalized marijuana would present any different challenge than alcohol in the workplace.

“You can make some comparisons between the two. If you accept that argument, you have two choices,” the governor said. “Let’s reduce the number of harmful substances that could impair our workforce. It’s as simple as that to me.”