It’s been three months since the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned voter approved IM 65. This would have legalized medical cannabis to qualifying patients across the state. However, after a lawsuit from the Mayor of Madison City challenged the ballot measure process, IM 65 became invalid. 

Now, House and Senate lawmakers have been working together since the initial verdict to try and recreate a bill similar to IM 65. With 74 percent of voters approving the measure, lawmakers received pressure from the public to create the program they voted on. According to a recent interview, lawmakers seem to be “very close” to reaching a medical cannabis deal. Once that happens, Governor Tate Reeves, R, will call lawmakers back for a special session to legalize medical cannabis. The governor has been waiting to call a session to not waste taxpayer money on a long, drawn out argument. 

Special Session

One senator and one representative have been leading the discussion between each chamber. Senator Kevin Blackwell, R, believes many of the issues have become resolved, which Representative Lee Yancey, R, agrees with. He said, “I would be surprised if there were not a special session soon, but that’s not my call … I think at some point soon we will be ready to say to the governor that we have something we can work with.

“I think we owe it to other legislators to let them have a chance to view and vet what we have worked on to this point,” Representative Yancey continued. “Each of us will have to get consensus to get 3/5 passage in both houses. We are cognizant of how important this is, that there are those out there who need this medication, and we are trying to put together a program we can be proud of — and know that we will have to tweak it year to year — but trying to get it as good as we can on the first push.”

While it may be a stretch to try and call for a special session in August, one is still doable.

Bill

Both lawmakers have been working closely with Ken Newburger, the director of Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association who wrote IM 65. He also agrees that the measures are moving forward well. 

“I think that’s been the most refreshing and surprising part of this whole legislative process, has been the willingness of the legislators in both chambers to reach out to people who have been advocating it, and patients who have been advocating it for years,” Newburger said.

Newburger made sure to include four major points from IM 65 into the new bill lawmakers are working on. 

1. Patients would have broad access to various forms of medical cannabis with varying levels of THC. Appropriate forms of cannabis would include: smokable, edibles, pills, etc. 
2. Patient certificates for medical cannabis will remain with their doctors, not “some bureaucratic system.”
3. Cultivation and dispensing cannabis will take place in a “free market enterprise”. This allows broad industry participation with no limits to local businesses due to large fees and license costs
4. The program will be self-funded and will not require money from the state to sustain itself.

Senator Blackwell and Representative Yancey are confident the new bill will meet the expectations of the people. Senator Blackwell said, “They (the public) don’t have a program right now, and I think we are going to give them a program that is better than the one from Initiative 65.”

When a medical cannabis deal is reached and Governor Reeves calls for a special session, we will update you with the latest. 

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