ARKANSAS, USA — On Monday, June 19, reports came in stating that the state's medical marijuana verification system was down, rendering such purchases temporarily unavailable over the weekend to cardholders in Arkansas.
This comes on the heels of a judge's order in Pulaski County on Wednesday, June 14, voiding 27 medical marijuana laws deemed "unconstitutional."
The ruling, which was made by Judge Morgan "Chip" Welch, determined that lawmakers made changes to Amendment 98 (the amendment in the state's Constitution legalizing medical marijuana) without letting Arkansans vote on any changes to the law.
However, according to Scott Hardin with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, the issue that took place temporarily halting medical marijuana sales over the weekend was due to a data-entry error.
"The issue was the way in which we entered the new licensing dates," Hardin said. "While the license was renewed for the upcoming fiscal year, we did not note the license remained active through the end of this month. That resulted in the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Hardin confirmed the issue had been resolved by Monday at 11 a.m.
As for Judge Welch's ruling, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin released a statement where he expressed his disappointment in Welch's decision.
“I am disappointed in the ruling as it is contrary to the law and the method used to amend the Arkansas Constitution for measures initiated by the people like Amendment 98. I support the General Assembly, remain confident in our case and plan to appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court expeditiously,” AG Griffin said.
5NEWS will update this article with more information as it becomes available.
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