Mississippi close to final vote on medical marijuana bill

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, lead negotiator, holds a tube containing a cigarette and a rolled hemp cigarette for instance to lawmakers what particular parts of the Mississippi Medical Hashish Equivalency Items would appear like throughout his presentation of the Mississippi Medical Hashish Act within the Senate Chamber on the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The physique handed the act.

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers are poised to take ultimate votes Wednesday on making a medical marijuana program for individuals with critical medical situations, negotiators stated Tuesday.

If the invoice turns into legislation, as anticipated, Mississippi would be a part of the vast majority of states that permit individuals use hashish for medical causes.

“It’s good to be at a spot the place everybody’s in settlement,” Home Drug Coverage Committee Chairman Lee Yancey, a Republican from Brandon, stated Tuesday. “It seems like that we’re lastly going to have the ability to present aid to these individuals with debilitating diseases that suffer so badly.“

A large margin of Mississippi voters accredited a medical marijuana initiative in November 2020, however the state Supreme Courtroom invalidated it six months later by ruling that the state’s initiative course of was outdated and the measure was not correctly on the poll.

Since shortly after the court docket ruling, legislators have been working to create a program that might permit individuals with situations reminiscent of most cancers, AIDS or sickle cell illness to purchase marijuana in state-licensed dispensaries. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves stated he needs tight limits on how a lot individuals might purchase as a result of he doesn't need a leisure marijuana program.

The Senate and Home handed barely completely different variations of a invoice this month, with extensive margins of bipartisan assist. The 2 chambers should agree on one model to ship to the governor.

Reeves has not stated what he'll do. He might signal the invoice, veto it or let it develop into legislation with out his signature.

“We’re veto-proof on either side,” Republican Sen. Kevin Blackwell of Southaven, who has labored with Yancey in main negotiations, stated Tuesday.

The invoice says sufferers might purchase as much as to three.5 grams of hashish per day, as much as six days per week. That's about 3 ounces per 30 days.

Yancey and Blackwell stated Tuesday the ultimate model may have a zoning change to deal with considerations from the Mississippi Municipal League.

When the Senate handed the invoice, it solely allowed companies that develop or dispense medical marijuana to be in areas zoned for agriculture or trade. The Home model additionally allowed them in areas with industrial zoning.

The ultimate model may have an possibility, not a mandate, for the industrial zones. Yancey stated metropolis or county elected officers might vote on the matter. The agricultural and industrial provisions would stay.

The invoice units taxes on manufacturing and sale of hashish, and it specifies that vegetation have to be grown indoors beneath managed situations.

The Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures says 36 states and 4 territories permit the medical use of hashish.

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Observe Emily Wagster Pettus on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.