Mississippi became the 37th state to legalize medical marijuana on Wednesday, capping a multi-year campaign by advocates to secure approval.
Governor Tate Reeves of Mississippi signed legislation authorizing the use of cannabis to treat severe, debilitating health conditions such as AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.
The bill is significant because it comes at a time when legislators in several other states are considering legislation that would create a legal framework allowing people with certain types of medical conditions to purchase small amounts of cannabis or cannabis-infused products to manage their symptoms.
The bill allows patients to purchase up to 3.5 grams of cannabis per day, up to six days per week, or approximately 3 ounces per month. Additionally, the bill establishes taxes on cannabis production and sale and requires that plants be grown indoors under controlled conditions.
According to Reeves, a first-term Republican, that restriction alone would result in "hundreds of millions fewer joints on the streets" in comparison to the bill's original, more permissive version. The new law takes immediate effect.
A person may obtain medical marijuana legally only if they have been diagnosed with one of approximately two dozen qualifying conditions.
Additionally, the measure allows for the prescription of cannabis for any "pain state in which the source of the pain cannot be removed or treated in any other way... and in which no relief or cure of the source of the pain is possible."
A written certification must be provided by a licensed healthcare professional with whom patients have a bona fide relationship, and the bill requires that such a certification be obtained during an in-person office visit.
Marijuana reform has been slow to take hold in much of the South, in comparison to other parts of the country, where recreational and medical marijuana laws have been in place for nearly 10 years.
Based on an April 2021 Pew Research Center study, approximately 31% of American adults believe medical marijuana should be legal, while around 60% believe recreational and medical marijuana should be legal.
In November 2020, a majority of Mississippi voters approved a medical marijuana initiative that would have allowed residents to purchase up to 5 ounces of marijuana per month.
Six months later, the state Supreme Court invalidated it, ruling that the state's initiative process was out of date and that the measure was not properly placed on the ballot.
Reeves stated that he supports the bill's requirement of parental consent and a physician's prescription for patients under the age of 18 to obtain marijuana.
