Since the state of Arkansas has passed amendment 98, over 75,000 patients have been approved for patient benefits. However, currently the medicine is cost prohibitive, for those patients who are disabled or otherwise forced to live on a low income due to their illness. Due to a lack of a truly free market 3 growers have been given ad hoc authority to charge patients any price they seem suitable for their needs. (More cultivators have been approved but will they be enough? Most likely not, Oklahoma has literally thousands of cultivators/dispensaries to provide medicine to their patients on top of allowing patient growing)

This petition seeks to allow approved Arkansas Medical Marijuana patients/caregivers to grow their own medicine, behind locked doors either indoors or in locked greenhouses, so that they may have access to a more affordable form of medicine.

The number of plants allowed in neighboring states is limited (like others): in Oklahoma patients are allowed to grow 6 full size plants and 6 seedlings at one time. The Oklahoma law also allows for possession of up to 8 ounces of dried flower (at home and in addition to the 3.5 oz personal possession) to compensate for harvesting homegrown medicinal plants; in Missouri patients are allowed to grow up to 6 female/flowering plants, 6 male/seed plants, and 6 seedlings less than 1 foot, with an additional license (and $100 fee) required.

Arkansas should similarly allow its patients to grow their own plants so that they don't have to make the decision between medicine or utilities, or any other number of sacrifices. 

Arkansas Medical Marijuana patients shall be allowed  to grow up to 6 plants at one time. Approved caregivers shall be allowed to grow up to 6 plants for each patient under their care. The current 2.5 Oz purchase/carry limit would still apply, however a home possession limit would need to be established to protect the patients; considering the harvest rates of plants, as determined by the AR DoH and MMJ Commission. Rules may also be discussed to allow plant sharing programs at dispensary locations to ease cost burden, ensure quality, and allow testing of harvests.

This option of growing their own medicine will not completely exclude cultivators and dispensaries, as they will be needed to make seeds and clones available for purchase to interested patients. Their expertise and knowledge will also be crucial in helping patients during planning and decision making on growing equipment, but also of which strains will help their specific illness the best.

In Oklahoma, as in other states, tax revenue has not seen any major adverse effects from allowing patients to grow, on the contrary, Tulsa World reported in October that tax revenue was in the $34 Million range and likely to increase.

Many Arkansans already grow other medicinal plants such as chamomile, dandelion, ginger, blackberries, echinacea, and many other fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Arkansans grow the best garden produce in the country and should be allowed to put this green thumb expertise to work for themselves in the form of medicinal marijuana.