Last verified: May 2026
The Constitutional Ban
Amendment 98 § 6(b) reads (in relevant part): "A qualifying patient or designated caregiver may not grow marijuana for personal use." The ban is constitutional — not merely statutory — because Amendment 98 is itself a constitutional amendment. Changing it requires either:
- A successful citizen-initiated constitutional amendment (Issue 3 of 2024 attempted this and was enjoined by the AR Supreme Court before votes counted — see Issue 3 page).
- A legislative referral to voters by 2/3 vote.
- Following the December 2025 Edgmon reversal: a 2/3 legislative amendment of Amendment 98 directly — though no current bill proposes adding home grow this way.
The Paraphernalia "To Grow" Felony Trap
Beyond the constitutional ban itself, Ark. Code § 5-64-443 makes possession of paraphernalia with purpose to grow marijuana a Class D felony — up to 6 years prison and $10,000 fine. This is a separate, additional felony exposure beyond the underlying cultivation prohibition. A patient who buys grow lights, hydroponic equipment, soil, fertilizer, and cannabis seeds — without growing a single plant — can be charged with a Class D felony if the prosecution can establish cultivation intent from the combination of items. Full coverage on the cultivation/paraphernalia page.
Why the Ban Matters Economically
The home-grow ban is the single largest cost-driver in the Arkansas medical-cannabis market. Without an in-state legal way to grow, every Amendment 98 patient’s medicine flows through:
- One of eight licensed cultivators (BOLD Team, Carpenter Farms, Good Day Farm, Leafology, NSMC, Osage Creek, Revolution, RVR).
- A wholesale transfer to one of ~36 active dispensaries, taxed at the 4% privilege tax.
- A retail sale to the patient, taxed at 6.5% sales tax + the 4% privilege tax + ~1–5% local taxes.
The combined effect is some of the highest medical-cannabis prices in the South. Suite 443’s opening-day price on May 10, 2019 was $420 per ounce; as of late 2025, Arkansas dispensary flower prices remain roughly 2× Oklahoma prices (which has a much larger 1,698+ active dispensary market and no production cap).
Comparative Context: Who Allows Home Grow?
As of May 2026, the medical-cannabis programs that permit home cultivation by qualifying patients include: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri (rec), Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and (with restrictions) several others. The programs that prohibit home grow at present include: Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida (medical), Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware (just legalized rec but home grow not permitted), Hawaii (limited grow only with hardship waiver), and Louisiana.
Arkansas’s home-grow ban is comparable in restrictiveness to Mississippi’s, Florida’s, and Pennsylvania’s — the cluster of "tightly restricted medical-only" Southern and Mid-Atlantic programs.
What Issue 3 (2024) Tried to Do
Issue 3 of 2024 (Arkansans for Patient Access; petition rep Bill Paschall; drafting attorney David Couch) was a medical-expansion ballot measure that proposed:
- Home cultivation by qualifying patients.
- Expanded certifying providers to include PAs and NPs.
- Removal of the 18-condition list (any condition the certifying provider reasonably believed cannabis could treat).
- A federal-trigger provision automatically legalizing adult use upon any federal cannabis rescheduling.
The measure submitted 150,335 signatures in 2024. The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 4–3 ruling on October 21, 2024 that included two special justices appointed by Governor Sanders, enjoined the Secretary of State from canvassing or certifying votes on the basis that the ballot title was "misleading." Issue 3 appeared on the November 2024 ballot but votes were not counted. Full coverage on the Issue 3 page.
Practical Consequences for Patients
- All cultivation must occur at one of the eight AMMC-licensed cultivation facilities.
- Patients cannot grow even a single plant for personal use.
- Caregivers cannot grow on behalf of patients.
- Possession of grow equipment (lights, hydroponic gear, seeds) with intent to grow is a Class D felony in itself.
- The medical card provides no defense to either the cultivation or the paraphernalia-to-grow charge.
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