CANNABIZ
HOW TO TRANSPORT MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW IS SKETCHY, BUT SMALL PRECAUTIONS COULD PREVENT TROUBLE. BY GRIFFIN COOP
92 AUGUST 2021
ARKANSAS TIMES
A
rkansas law doesn’t have much to say about how the state’s medical marijuana patients should transport their medicine, but advocates recommend patients take a few simple steps to increase safety and eliminate confusion. The constitutional amendment that voters passed to legalize medical marijuana in 2016 did not address how the medicine should be transported, according to Little Rock lawyer David Couch, who wrote the measure. Couch said his intention was for patients to be able to carry medical marijuana in the same way they would carry other prescriptions. “People should realize [medical marijuana] is safer than opiates, but you can carry around oxycontin in your pocket and nobody will bug you,” Couch said. “It should be exactly the same thing for a vape pen.” Since voters passed the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment, the state legislature has passed two bills that dictate how patients should carry medical marijuana. Arkansas patients are required by state law to transport their marijuana in child-proof containers and can transport no more than five ounces of marijuana. Melissa Fults of the Arkansas chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) recommends using resealable glass containers, old medicine bottles or child-proof baggies that are available at the dispensaries and through NORML. Fults also recommends reusing the child-proof containers that products are packaged in at purchase. State law does not require patients to keep the products in their original packaging, and Fults said it can be
difficult to get some products, such as vape pens, back into their original packaging. “There is nothing in the law that says it has to be in the original container,” Fults said. “Nothing. All it says is a ‘child-proof container,’ so people just have to get creative.” Patients are also not required to carry their prescription cards with them, but Fults and Couch recommend doing so. “Do not leave home without your card,” Fults said. “If you have product, you better have your card. Once you go to court, you can get out of it, but who wants to go to court? Nobody. You’ve got to carry your card. The only protection you have is that card.” While advocates say carrying the prescription card can eliminate some problems, Bill Sadler, spokesman for the Arkansas State Police, said the cards are limited in what rights they grant. Prescription cards do not preclude cardholders from complying with a state trooper’s requests during a traffic stop and do not allow cardholders to drive impaired. Sadler said it is also illegal to simultaneously possess a firearm and marijuana, even medical marijuana. Couch described the best practices for transport as a distinction between “what should they do and what are they legally required to do.” For instance, Couch also recommends cardholders carry their card, although they are not required to do so. “Legally, there really is no requirement [to carry your card],” Couch said. “If you are a cardholder and you have five ounces or less of marijuana, you can ward off a criminal offense. But, practically, you should carry your card.”
