Medical cannabis is officially, finally, legal in Mississippi. 

The state’s Republican governor, Tate Reeves, signed legislation on Wednesday that will allow qualifying patients to receive the treatment, ending a long and drawn-out struggle that dates back to the 2020 election, when a huge majority of Mississippi voters passed a ballot initiative. 

“The ‘medical marijuana bill’ has consumed an enormous amount of space on the front pages of the legacy media outlets across Mississippi over the last three-plus years,” Reeves said in a statement that he posted on Twitter.

“There is no doubt that there are individuals in our state who could do significantly better if they had access to medically prescribed doses of cannabis. There are also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead to more people smoking and less people working, with all of the societal and family ills that that brings.”

After voters approved the initiative to legalize medical cannabis in 2020, it didn’t take long for the measure to unravel. The state Supreme Court struck it down last year, ruling that the initiative was unconstitutional based on a technicality. 

Ever since then, Reeves and lawmakers have been engaged in a back-and-forth surrounding a legislation to replace the one nullified by the court. Despite being opposed to the initiative, Reeves said that he would honor “the will of voters.” But getting a bill on his desk proved to be difficult. 

In the fall, Mississippi legislators produced a bill, but Reeves did not call a special session, citing objections with the legislation as it was drawn up.

“I am confident we will have a special session of the Legislature if we get the specifics of a couple of items that are left outstanding,” Reeves said in October. “Again, we have made great progress working with our legislative leaders.”

The chief dispute between Reeves and lawmakers centered around the amount of cannabis a patient could purchase. Reeves had said he wanted the limit to be set at 2.7 grams per day.

Last week, members of the Mississippi state House and Senate finally reached an agreement on a bill that will allow qualifying patients to purchase up to 3.5 grams as many as six times per week.

The bill passed the legislature with a veto-proof majority.

“I have made it clear that the bill on my desk is not the one that I would have written,” Reeves said in his statement on Wednesday. “But it is a fact that the legislators who wrote the final version of the bill (the 45th or 46th draft) made significant improvements to get us towards accomplishing the ultimate goal.”

Reeves went on to rattle off a host of changes made to the final bill that he said marked improvements to the law.

“1. Reduces the total amount that any one individual can receive to 3 oz. per month. This one change will reduce the total amount by 40 percent from the original version (I asked for 50 percent). Said differently, there will be hundreds of millions of fewer joints on the streets because of this improvement,” Reeves said in his statement.

“2. The medical professional can only prescribe within the scope of his/her practice. And they have to have a relationship with the patient. And it requires an in-person visit by the patient to the medical professional. 

“3. Only an MD or DO can prescribe for kids under 18 and only with the consent of a parent/legal guardian. 4. An MD or DO must prescribe for young adults between the ages of 18-25. 5. The MSDH will promulgate rules regarding packaging and advertising, and I have confidence they will do so in a way that limits the impact on our young people. 6. Prohibits any incentives for the Industry from the Mississippi Development Authority. 7. Protects our churches and schools from having a marijuana dispensary within fewer than 1,000 feet of their location.”

“I thank all of the legislators for their efforts on these improvements and all of their hard work. I am most grateful to all of you: Mississippians who made your voice heard,” he added. “Now, hopefully, we can put this issue behind us and move on to other pressing matters facing our state.”

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One Mississippi Senator brought 3.5 grams worth of hemp to show Governor Tate Reeves, who has recently expressed opposition regarding the amount of cannabis allowed for the state’s medical cannabis program, in an effort to educate him about what a reasonable amount of cannabis looks like.

Amidst the many topics that are waiting to be discussed in the 2022 Mississippi legislative session, the legislative body has been building a medical cannabis program for some time now. Although both the House and Senate have expressed support for a medical cannabis program, Governor Tate Reeves’s opposition is one of the main reasons for the program’s uncertainty.

In an attempt to drive home final details for the state’s medical cannabis program, Senator Kevin Blackwell arranged a meeting with Reeves on January 5. As one of the main legislators working on building the program, Blackwell hoped to educate Reeves by bringing in a small amount of hemp as a visual guide.

The Mississippi Free Press spoke with Blackwell, who described the meeting as amicable. “I thought it went well. “[The governor] was receptive, appreciative of the meeting. Hopefully we moved the bar a little bit closer to an agreement,” Blackwell said. “He was non-committal, so they’re going to think about what we said and get back with us.” Blackwell also shared that the proposed legislation currently sits at a four ounces per month, which Blackwell believes is a “reasonable” amount. “I took samples to show him what an ounce actually looks like—what 3.5 grams actually looks like.”

On Meta (formerly Facebook) on December 28, 2021, Reeves wrote that he would absolutely support a medical cannabis bill if it were “truly medical marijuana.” He argued that the amount a single patient can use per day exceeds what he believes should be allowed, according to the current bill proposal. “The bill allows any individual to get 3.5 grams of marijuana per day. A simple google search shows that the average joint has 0.32 grams of marijuana. Therefore any one individual can get enough weed to smoke 11 joints a day. Every day,” he wrote.

He also expressed his belief that it isn’t medical at all if there aren’t any doctors involved in the process. “Unlike any other drug, this program allows virtually unlimited access to marijuana once you qualify. There is no pharmacist involved and no doctor setting the amount. There is only what legislators call a ‘budtender’ serving you pot.” He concludes with a wish to reduce the “tremendous” amount of cannabis that the current bill text would allow. “I hope that legislative leaders will see fit to consider reducing the tremendous amount of weed they seek to make legally accessible so that I can sign their bill and we can put this issue to rest.”

Despite Reeves’ opposition, and threats of vetoing the bill if the possession limits don’t change, Blackwell is confident that the legislation has put together a comprehensive program for patients. “Lee Yancey’s been great. Speaker [Philip Gunn] and Jason White have been great. It has been an eye-opening experience to go through a bill of this nature. I don’t know if any bill has been vetted like this…with the transparency that’s occurred,” Blackwell stated.

The bill is in the hands of Lt. Gov. Hosemann at the moment, who will soon send the bill to the Public Health Committee. According to the Mississippi Free Press, Senator Hob Bryan has confirmed his support and that he will move it to the Senate floor for consideration, “as soon as is reasonably practical.”

Voters approved a medical cannabis program in 2020 through Initiative 65, although it was overturned by a Supreme Court decision in May 2021. As a result, state lawmakers set out to draft their own medical cannabis bill. The draft proposal was initially 144 pages, crafted in tandem between both House and Senate representatives. However, after being sent to the governor for changes, it increased to a 277-page document.

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Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves revealed on Tuesday that he will not sign a medical cannabis bill proposed by state lawmakers, saying the legislation allows patients access to too much medical cannabis. In a message posted to Facebook, the Republican governor wrote that he would support the measure if the legislature cuts the daily cap on medical marijuana purchases in half.

“I hope that legislative leaders will see fit to consider reducing the tremendous amount of weed they seek to make legally accessible so that I can sign their bill and we can put this issue to rest,” Reeves wrote.

Mississippi voters approved Initiative 65, a ballot measure to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, in November 2020. However, in May, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned the statute, citing constitutional inconsistencies in the state’s initiative process.

In September, negotiators with the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives announced that they had reached an agreement on a medical cannabis plan that has key differences compared to Initiative 65, including provisions that would allow local jurisdictions to regulate where medical marijuana could be cultivated, processed and sold.

Reeves Rejects Cap On Cannabis Purchases in Mississippi

On Tuesday, Reeves said that the bill drafted by lawmakers addresses some of his worries about launching a medical marijuana program in Mississippi. But the governor added that he is still concerned with the question of how much cannabis a patient will be permitted to purchase.

“Unlike any other drug, this program allows virtually unlimited access to marijuana once you qualify. There is no pharmacist involved and no doctor setting the amount,” said Reeves. “There is only what legislators call a ‘budtender’ serving you pot.”

Reeves noted that under the legislature’s plan, patients would be allowed to purchase up to 3.5 grams of medical cannabis per day. Writing that a “simple google search shows that the average joint has 0.32 grams of marijuana,” Reeves said that each patient would be entitled to enough cannabis for 11 joints every day. The governor then offered patient statistics from Oklahoma, where about 376,000 patients have registered for the medical cannabis program.

“An equivalent sign-up rate in Mississippi would yield 300,000 Mississippians with a card to get up to 11 joints per day. That would allow the disbursement of 3.3 million joints per day in our state, which is the equivalent of approximately 100 million joints per month,” Reeves extrapolated. “That would be 1.2 billion legal joints sold in Mississippi per year. Call me crazy, but I just think that’s too broad of a starting point.”

Instead, Reeves suggested that lawmakers drastically cut the daily cap on medical cannabis purchases.

“I am asking the Legislature to simply cut that amount in half to start the program,” he wrote. “It is a simple fix.”

Reeves also suggested that the limit on medical cannabis could be revisited if the amended cap proves to be insufficient for patient needs. 

“We can sit down five years from now and take a thorough review of the actual outcomes,” the governor wrote. “But—as the dad of three daughters that I love dearly—I cannot put my name on a bill that puts that much marijuana on the streets of Mississippi.”

Lawmakers will take up the bill during the new legislative session, which begins early next month. Many cannabis activists are already frustrated with Reeves for failing to follow through on plans to call a special session to consider the matter.

“This program was supposed to have been up and running already,” Citizens Alliance of Mississippi founder Shea Dobson told reporters last month. “I mean, we were supposed to have had medical marijuana in place right now as we speak. And every day that goes by, the governor moves the goalposts; we continue to see patients suffer more.”

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