This weekend, members of the community of Hot Springs, Arkansas and the surrounding areas had planned come together for three days of music, camping and fun in the sun in support of natural medicine in the Natural State. But the organizers were reportedly told to cancel the Springstock Music and Camping Festival, scheduled for June 8-10 at Bald Mountain Park.
Who, exactly, strong-armed the organizers into canceling the event? Which "powers that be" were threatened enough by Springstock to prevent it from happening? We don't have the answers to those questions yet, but we're still digging.
Proceeds would have benefited Arkansans for Compassionate Care (ACC), a nonprofit organization working to pass medical marijuana legislation in Arkansas.
"This is going to be a really fun event and a great way for people to show their support for medical marijuana in Arkansas," ACC Field Director Laila Simmons had said before the cancellation.
The organization's mission is to support the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, a petition to allow sick and dying patients access to medical marijuana. More than 65,000 valid signatures are needed by next month to qualify for the 2012 election. (ACC is seeking twice as many to account for invalid signatures.)
This initiative petition would allow sick and dying Arkansans the ability to use medical marijuana for serious debilitating medical conditions with a doctor's recommendation, and to allow patients to purchase their medicine at a tightly regulated, not-for-profit dispensary.
ACC is now asking folks to turn their energy toward helping the group collect the last 20,000 signatures needed to make the initial count for ballot qualification on July 6.
Medical marijuana is currently legal in 17 states and the District of Columbia, and has been used to treat patients suffering from a variety of conditions including cancer, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, hepatitis C, and many more.
For more information about the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act or to make a donation, visit
http://arcompassion.org.
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