On Monday, Mississippi Senators hosted a hearing on medical cannabis and what kind of program the state should implement. This comes after the state’s Supreme Court overturned the voter approved medical cannabis measure IM 65. Activists continue to call for lawmakers to create a program similar to IM 65, but nothing has been stated yet. Representatives from two different states spoke, via Zoom, at the meeting about the medical cannabis programs in their state and what Mississippi should take into consideration when drafting their own bill.

Oklahoma

Representative Scott Fetgatter (R) spoke on behalf of Oklahoma, which legalized an open and moderate medical cannabis program in 2018. Under Oklahoma’s medical cannabis program, patients can smoke medical cannabis in public. They can also grow a small amount of plants at home for medical purposes. At this time, there are around 400,000 medical cannabis cards issued to patients across the state.

“Ten percent of our population currently has a medical marijuana card,” Representative Fetgatter said during the meeting. “And two to three people are using each one of those cards … I had no idea there were so many ill people in Oklahoma … A large amount of the population in Oklahoma is using medical marijuana.” This is something that many lawmakers do not seem to have taken into consideration when discussing legalization of medical and recreational cannabis in their states.

Utah

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Utah offers a very strict and heavily regulated medical cannabis program. Senator Evan Vickers (R) spoke at the Mississippi Senate hearing, also via Zoom. Only one percent of the population, about 23,000 people, have received medical cannabis cards. Plus, a very limited number of dispensaries can operate in the state. Dispensary licenses cost upwards of $100,000. This severely limits the amount of participants as well as enabling larger corporations to control the market. 

Next Steps

What Mississippi lawmakers need to figure out now is what kind of program they would like to create for the state in regards to medical cannabis. Do they want a more open and relaxed policy like Oklahoma? Or should they go with the strict and heavily regulated program Utah has?

“I think they need to find a happy medium between Utah and Oklahoma type programs and do what’s in the best interest for patients in Mississippi,” said Angie Calhoun, chairwoman of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association. “We don’t want them to overregulate, and we don’t want to see $100,000 license fees like in Utah.” Mrs. Calhoun has a son who suffers from debilitating seizures, eating difficulties, and other problems that conventional medicine hasn’t been able to treat.  Her son has seen improvements since he began taking medical cannabis on a regular basis.

Special Session?

Once lawmakers come to an agreement on what kind of medical cannabis program they would like to pursue, Governor Tate Reeves (R) has said he will most likely call for a special session. Regardless, medical cannabis will come to the state. IM 65 received a 74 percent voter approval, which is almost unheard of. 

“I told the governor a couple of weeks ago we should have something by mid-July, an agreement between the House and Senate,” Senator Kevin Blackwell (R) said. He is leading the push for a medical cannabis program in the state after the Supreme Court overturned IM 65. “By August I believe we could have a special session.”

Should Governor Reeves call for a special session in August, we will update you with the latest. 

Make sure to check back for more cannabis and hemp related news.