LIST FOR MEDICAL POT LACKS SIGNEES

LITTLE ROCK - Backers of a proposed initiative to legalize marijuana use for
medical reasons in Arkansas fell more than 30,000 signatures short of
placing the issue on the ballot.

The Secretary of State's office said Tuesday the Arkansas Alliance for
Medical Marijuana and related organizations have 30 days to make up
the shortfall, a race with the clock one leader said will be attempted.

Deputy Secretary of State Janet Miller said the petition included
29,947 signatures that were certified, but 64,456 were needed to get
on the Nov. 2 ballot. The group turned in 66,282 signatures.

Miller said there were 48,629 signatures that could be used for
verification.

"The rest of them were either illegible or had a notary on them that
we couldn't verify or something like that," Miller said. The measure
would allow Arkansans with debilitating medical conditions to use
marijuana under a physician's advice, using what they or a caregiver
grew after obtaining a registry card from the state Department of
Health. Denele Campbell of the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana
said the group expects about 10,000 more existing signatures to be
accepted once a problem is cleared up with the identity of a notary
who witnessed them. Still, she noted, that would leave about 25,000
valid signatures of registered voters to be collected.

"It's going to be difficult. We're not kidding ourselves about this,"
Campbell said.

The group is setting a goal of gathering 10,000 signatures a week, and
recently received about $10,000 in donations to hire people to help
volunteers canvass for the petition, she said.

"We're going to keep trying," Campbell said.