Get ready to get that Mississippi Marijuana Card! The state Senate passed the medical marijuana bill that both houses have been working on since June of 2021 on January 13, and the legislation is expected to head to the House on Monday the 17th.
Medical Marijuana Bill Passes with Veto-Proof Support
Senate Bill 2095 passed with a 45-5 vote, well above the threshold needed to survive a veto from Governor Tate Reeves. While Representative Lee Yancey, who spearheaded work on the bill along with Senator Kevin Blackwell, was confident the legislation would pass in the House, he wasn’t sure if it would do so with a two-thirds veto-proof majority.
Yancey and several other House members were on the Senate floor with Senator Blackwell for the vote. “He’s just handed me the football,” Yancey said after he congratulated Blackwell.
Not Everyone is Celebrating the Passage of this Medical Marijuana Law…
Governor Reeves said he’d veto an earlier version of SB 2095, but he has yet to comment officially on the version that has passed.
One change in SB 2095 from that earlier version is that the maximum amount of marijuana patients may buy in a month has been lowered from 4 ounces to 3.5, which is still more than Reeves thought should be allowed. Further, the daily dosage unit, 3.5 grams, remained unchanged, and Reeves said that was also too high.
While Reeves may veto the bill should it pass the House with less than two-thirds support, critics say he is just wrong about the figures he has cited in his opposition to the monthly limits and daily doses.
Reeves claims that 3.5 grams a day would be equivalent to 11 joints a day. Blackwell passed around a 1.5 gram hemp cigarette, a 3.5 gram packet of hemp, and a 1 ounce package of hemp to give his fellow Senators a better idea of what they were voting on.
Blackwell said he recently heard someone on the radio claim that an ounce was the size of a loaf of bread. “I don’t know where they get their bread,” Blackwell said as his samples were passed around.
Blackwell spent two hours before the vote fighting off proposed amendments. One, from Senator Angela Burks, would have banned smoking marijuana. “You don’t smoke medicine,” she told Mississippi Today.
Another proposal, from Senator Barbara Blackmon, would have allowed for medical marijuana to be grown outdoors to “let Mississippi farmers take advantage of this new cash crop.”
Blackwell responded that outdoor growing would make it too hard to regulate and track medical marijuana from its harvesting to retail shelves.
…but Medical Marijuana Advocates are Celebrating this Big Step for Mississippi
There were some medical marijuana advocates in attendance, and Mississippi Today described their mood as “celebratory.”
Bethany Hill, president of the advocacy group We Are the 74, told Mississippi Today that she believed the bill would pass in the House and that Reeves would not veto it.
“The governor’s colorful description of cannabis has kind of scared people,” Hill said. “You can’t get 11 joints out of 3.5 grams … If he vetoes it at this point, that’s insane. I think he’s kind of backed off.”
The Times are Most Definitely Changing
During his remarks to the Senate, Blackwell jokingly quoted the Bob Dylan song “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35,” saying “Everybody must get stoned.”
But he put us in mind of another Dylan reference, the album Bringing It All Back Home, with his closing remarks: “We talked about a lot of things up here today, but one thing we didn’t talk a lot about was the people that we are doing this for. There are a lot of sick folks out there that this is going to help, and there are a lot of people that have been waiting a long time.”
The Wait is Almost Over! Start Getting Ready for Medical Marijuana Today!
You have been waiting a long time, Mississippi. Why wait any longer than you have to? Start getting ready for medical marijuana by reserving an evaluation online today.
We’ll book an appointment for you with one of our qualified, compassionate doctors just as soon as Mississippi’s medical marijuana market is up and running. You’ll meet with your new doctor virtually, using your smartphone or computer for a telemedicine appointment. You’ll learn if you qualify for a Mississippi Marijuana Card, and how medical marijuana might help you, all without even leaving your home. And you’ll even save $25 off the cost of your evaluation!
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
Helping everyone achieve wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana. Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
If you have any questions, call us at (833) 781-6635, or simply reserve a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
And don’t forget to check out Mississippi Marijuana Card’s Blog to keep up to date on the latest
medical marijuana news, tips, and information.