The Republican governor of Arkansas has announced a new plan to use tax revenue from medical marijuana sales to provide public school students in the state with free breakfast and lunch.
During her State of the State address on Tuesday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) said her administration intends to “use medical marijuana money” to support both a state food benefit program for low-income residents as well as a free breakfast and lunch programs to make them “sustainable for years to come.”
“We will also use those funds to make school breakfast in Arkansas completely free for any student that chooses to participate,” she said.
This proposal is especially notable considering that Sanders, a former press secretary under the first Trump administration, has historically resisted cannabis policy reform.
That includes opposition to a November ballot initiative to expand Arkansas’s medical marijuana program that was ultimately shuttered by the state Supreme Court.
A survey found that a majority of likely voters in Arkansas were in favor of the initiative.
Despite her opposition to the proposal, Sanders appears open to other modest reforms and maintaining the existing medical cannabis program. For example, in 2023 she signed a bill into law clarifying that medical marijuana patients can obtain concealed carry licenses for firearms.
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The state’s medical marijuana has proved popular since its implementation in 2019, with officials announcing last May that at least 102,000 residents have registered for patient cards, exceeding expectations.
However, Arkansas voters defeated a ballot initiative to more broadly legalize marijuana for adults in 2022.
Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
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