Mississippi Medical Cannabis Legalization Efforts – Dueling Initiatives

MISSISSIPPI MEDICAL CANNABIS LEGALIZATION EFFORTS

LEARN ABOUT THE COMPETING INITIATIVES TO LEGALIZE MEDICAL CANNABIS IN MISSISSIPPI.

There are two competing initiatives that will appear on the Nov 2020 ballot to legalize medical marijuana in Mississippi. If passed, both initiatives, Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A, will allow for the establishment of a medical marijuana program in Mississippi for qualifying patients to access medical marijuana through state-licensed businesses.

With two initiatives on the ballot, voters in Mississippi will face two questions, should medical marijuana be legalized and, if so, which initiative?

Learn more about each initiative below.

Alternative 65

Initiative 65: The initiative was filed with the Mississippi State Legislature on January 7, 2020. The campaign group submitted more than 214,000 signatures in September 2019, with only 86,185 valid signatures needed to qualify to appear on the ballot, 105,686 of the 214,000 submitted signatures were found to be valid.

The initiative. put forward by citizen advocates. would allow patients with qualifying conditions to use medical marijuana. The Mississippi State Department of Health would be responsible for regulating and enforcing the provisions of this proposed medical marijuana program, to include but not limited to the following:

• 20 qualifying medical conditions, including PTSD, cancer, glaucoma, and epilepsy.
• Patients will be limited to obtaining or possessing no more than 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana every 14 days.
• Homegrown will not be permitted.
• An undefined number of “medical marijuana treatment centers,” the initiative’s term for cultivation, manufacturing, processing, and dispensary facilities.
  • The state would be prohibited from limiting the number of medical marijuana treatment center licenses.
• Patients will need to renew their state medical marijuana cards annually.

The regulating department must adopt final program rules by July 1, 2021, and start issuing medical marijuana treatment center licenses no later than Aug. 15, 2021.

Alternative 65A

Alternative 65A: With the same goal of legalizing medical marijuana, the alternative proposed by Republican state legislators, presents a more conservative and restrictive version of Initiative 65. Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) opposes Initiative 65, and organized Alternative 65A, which restricts smoking marijuana to terminally ill patients only; and require pharmaceutical-grade marijuana products and treatment oversight by licensed physicians, nurses, and pharmacists.

Mississippi House Democrats argue that Alternative 65A was designed to confuse voters by placing a similar initiative on the Nov 2020 ballot to dilute the vote to legalize medical marijuana through Initiative 65.

According to an article by Marijuana Business Daily, a survey by California-based political polling firm FM3 Research shows 81% of Mississippians in favor of doctors being able to recommend medical cannabis for serious medical conditions, with 52% in favor of the citizen initiative.

Based on the state’s election law, an initiative must receive support from at least 40% of all voters, in addition to receiving at least a majority of votes cast for one or the other initiative. If those figures hold, then the citizen initiative, Initiative 65, would pass with about 42% of the overall vote (52% of 81% equals 42.6%).

For states that are pending legalization, like Mississippi, we encourage those interested in starting a marijuana business, to focus on establishing your Business and Financial plans. If you are interested in applying for a medical marijuana treatment center license in Mississippi, email us to discuss how we may be able to assist you.