“Giving more access to drugs—particularly recreational access—does nothing to help or benefit Arkansans.”
By Antoinette Grajeda, Arkansas Advocate
Medical marijuana has generated more than $1 billion in Arkansas since voters legalized it in 2016.
After the state opened its first dispensary in 2019, thousands of Arkansans joined the program and spent a record $291.1 million on medical marijuana in 2025, according to the state’s Department of Finance and Administration.
Tax revenue from those sales now supports free breakfast for public school students, following approval of legislation by lawmakers last year.
Medical marijuana programs have expanded across the country, as has recreational marijuana. Two dozen states, including neighboring Missouri, permit recreational marijuana use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arkansas voters in 2022 rejected an effort to expand legalization to recreational marijuana, despite national groups spending millions in support of the measure.
Restrictions on marijuana have relaxed at the federal level, with the U.S. Department of Justice downgrading the drug classification for medical cannabis earlier this year.
Here’s what Arkansas’s gubernatorial candidates—Democratic state Sen. Fred Love, Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Libertarian Colt Shelby—say about legalizing recreational marijuana.
Democratic state Sen. Fred Love
Love said he’s against legalization
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