Arkansas does not require a supermajority to overturn an executive veto.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders will not allow this to continue on her watch.
The Arkansas Times reported that Sanders on Wednesday vetoed the bill passed by the Arkansas legislature, which would have allowed licensed medical marijuana dispensaries add drive-thru window to their stores. Sanders said such an action would “expand the access to useable marijuana.”
It was reported by the Times that the bipartisan measure had “just barely” passed both chambers in the Legislature with a minimal majority of votes.
House Bill1889 also allowed for patients to view dispensaries where medical cannabis was grown, and lowered the requirement of how many workers were required to operate dispensary delivery trucks.
The Times reported that the drive-thrus, and other changes, could become law if lawmakers who passed the bill kept their voting the same. Arkansas law requires only a simple majority of both chambers in order to override the governor’s decision.
According to the Times, there are few chances that a veto-override will be passed before the legislative session of 2025 adjourns, since the normal business has been completed for the current year and legislators won’t meet up again until the adjournment in just a couple weeks.
Politics has stifled the growth of cannabis in southern states in recent years. Legal challenges prevented an Arkansas campaign that sought to expand its medical marijuana market from appearing on the ballot last year. And in 2022 voters rejected the question of legalizing recreational marijuana.
As revenues continue to rise, Arkansas’ medical marijuana market is experiencing wholesale price reductions.