MEDICAL POT ISSUE NEEDS MORE NAMES

LITTLE ROCK -- A proposed ballot measure that would legalize marijuana for
medical use has come up short in the number of signatures of registered
voters needed to get it on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.

The secretary of state's office said Tuesday that just 29,947 of the nearly
49,000 signatures counted were certified. To get a proposed initiated act
on the general election ballot, 64,465 signatures of registered voters are
needed.

Supporters of the measure now have 30 days -- until Aug. 26 -- to gather
the additional signatures from registered voters in Arkansas to get the
proposal on the ballot.

Denele Campbell, executive director of the Alliance for Medical Marijuana,
said Tuesday that she isn't surprised by the announcement and the alliance
is already out collecting more signatures in an effort to get the measure
on the ballot.

"We're not giving up," she said, adding that a lack of funds will make it
difficult to gather the necessary signatures in 30 days. She said the group
has received about $10,000 in donations to help pay for the collection of
signatures.

Supporters of the proposal turned in just more than 66,000 signatures on
July 2. About 18,000 of those, however, were automatically discarded
because of a technicality.

Campbell said the 18,000 were discarded because they were notarized
incorrectly. She said that issue is being addressed in hopes that those
signatures soon can be counted.

Opponents of the proposal, including the Faith and Ethics Council, Arkansas
Committee for Ethics, the Families First Foundation and the American Family
Association of Arkansas, have said it is the first step toward the full
legalization of marijuana in the state. Those groups have said they will
campaign against the proposal if it should make it on the ballot.

A proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriages in Arkansas was
certified for the Nov. 2 ballot last week by the secretary of state's office.