Seeded by the people of Arkansas through passage of a constitutional amendment, marijuana in Arkansas for the purposes of muting the effects of diseases still faces resistance in the courts and, apparently, in the minds of Washington County justices of the peace.

Last December, a company that wants to operate a proposed marijuana cultivation facility near Lincoln came before the Quorum Court to get a permit. Voters across the state in 2016 backed a system through which Arkansans with certain documented medical maladies can qualify to acquire and use marijuana for relief of their symptoms. The measure was placed on the ballot not by the Legislature, but by initiative of marijuana supporters. Voters said yes, but ever since, some lawmakers, judges and local decision-makers have slowed the process to get the marijuana growing.

What’s the point? Washington County can’t undo Arkansas voters’ approval of marijuana for medical purposes.

The state procedure for awarding licenses to either grow or sell medical marijuana is in turmoil. The amendment approved by voters authorized up to five cultivation facilities in Arkansas and up to 32 dispensaries. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission is responsible for the process of selecting companies who will win the coveted license for growing and selling.

That entire process has come to a halt after a judge in Pulaski County granted an injunction. It's perhaps no surprise that people not selected by the state's process are none too happy about it. After the commission picked five licensees for the cultivation centers, one of the losing firms filed a lawsuit. The judge ruled the process lacked integrity and due process. That ruling is under appeal.

But in Washington County, we've got our own smaller clash over a company that wants to grow marijuana. In part, it's premature because the company wasn't even among the five selected for licenses, but who knows how that's going to turn out?

The company, called Native Flower, picked a site near Lincoln for its operation and asked the county for a permit to operate on land zoned for agricultural use. To most people, growing marijuana might rationally appear to an agricultural endeavor. There's dirt. There are seeds and plants. There's nurturing and protecting said plant. And there's a harvest before the crop is taken to market.

To the county planning staff, that sounds like a pharmaceutical company, so that's how they treated it. The county Planning Board approved the project. Then the politicians got hold of it on appeal. Members of the Quorum Court rejected the project 11-3, with several articulating views that suggest they don't care one bit what the state's voters want.

Neighbors opposed the facility, asserting a morality argument. Justice of the Peace Robert Dennis of Farmington saw the issue clearly: ""Do you want to sell your soul to the devil?" Dennis asked. "I'm not struggling with this -- I'm totally against it. It's wrong."

Others said the facility belonged in an industrial area, not rural Washington County.

In late May, Circuit Judge Doug Martin rejected county officials' approach. After examining county and state laws, Martin ruled growing marijuana falls under an agricultural use and Native Flower didn't need further permission from county leaders.

Problem solved, right? Not really. County officials can revisit their ordinances to more clearly delineate where marijuana facilities should go within county zoning rules. Bill Ussery, a justice of the peace and chairman of the Ordinance Review Committee, says the panel will take up such considerations.

A word of advice to county leaders: Don't make this about morality. The people of Arkansas -- against our advice, by the way -- elected to legalize marijuana for medical purposes and to set up these cultivation and dispensary locations. It is not the job of local officials to try to undo what the voters have done. Local government should not attempt to thwart the will of the people. And if they want to treat marijuana differently than other crops, they're going to have to show -- beyond a moral objection to marijuana -- why special treatment makes sense.

Our bet is a case can be made, but it's got to be more substantial than avoiding a deal with the devil.

Commentary on 06/06/2018