For the first time after the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning IM 65 in Mississippi, lawmakers met June 4th about the future of medical cannabis in the state. The Senate Public Health Committee held a discussion on how the state will move forward with medical cannabis. 

IM 65

November 2020 saw an unprecedented voter turnout across the country. In Mississippi, almost 74 percent of voters approved of IM 65, the medical cannabis program measure. Qualifying patients can purchase and possess up to certain amounts of medical cannabis. Doctors can recommend medical cannabis if they believed it would be beneficial to their patients. 

However, the measure became overturned by the Supreme Court after a lawsuit filed said the signatures collected were invalid. They needed to come equally from the five districts. But back in 2000, Mississippi lost one of its districts. So the five districts became four. Laws unfortunately didn’t update, so the initiative measure description remained at five districts instead of the now four. Up until this point, ballot initiatives have passed without opposition. They are all up for debate now since they did not meet the requirement of signatures from five districts since five did not exist. 

Debate

The public and some lawmakers are calling for a special session to create a medical cannabis program that the people voted for. Other lawmakers are asking for the House and the Senate to decide on which kind of program they want to create, recreational or medical. Several different lawmakers spoke on the topic. 

Senate Public Health Chairman Hob Bryan (D) was asked if a special session could be expected soon. He said, “I do not believe there will be a special session until there is some consensus between the House and the Senate. If I was governor, I would not call one before then.”

Senator Brice Wiggins (R) questioned whether it would be wiser just to approve a recreational program. “There’s a dichotomy between what people want and what the science says. Are we putting doctors in a position to do something that they don’t have the proper data to safely do? Why don’t we just jump to recreational with this?”

State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs is the Department of Health Officer who oversaw the creation of IM 65 before the Supreme Court struck it down. He said more regulation is needed in whatever the Legislature approves. There is research showing cannabis is beneficial for some health issues like nausea and vomiting associated with cancer treatments. There are also risks with cannabis use.

Dr. Larry Walker, director emeritus of the National Center for Natural Product Research at the University of Mississippi, said, “I do believe there are legitimate needs. I think they should be met in a medical way.”

Senator Kevin Blackwell (R) broached the possibility of allowing municipalities to ban the sale of medical marijuana by a vote of its citizens. Senator Barbara Blackmon (D) said that could penalize people who need cannabis for health reasons.

Future

If a special session is called, lawmakers like Chairman Bryan say it may not be for a while. The debate on medical versus recreational cannabis, outlined by Senator Wiggins, indicates that the measure may have to wait. Either way, 74 percent of residents want some kind of action to take place.

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