Mississippi Gov. Calls for Medical Cannabis Program THC Limits and Purchase Caps

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) said on Monday that he wants tighter limits on the amounts of medical cannabis patients can purchase and limit the amount of THC allowed in medical cannabis products sold in the state, the Oxford Eagle reports. Reeves did not indicate what he thinks those caps should be but said the THC levels in the current draft of the bill “are higher” than he is “comfortable with.”

“If we’re going to have a medical marijuana program, we need to get it done right. I think getting it done right is more important than getting it done quick.” — Reeves during a press conference via the Eagle

Mississippi voters approved the medical cannabis initiative during the 2020 election, but the state Supreme Court overturned the initiative in May, ruling that Mississippi’s initiative process is outdated and unworkable. Lawmakers have since introduced legislation to enact the reforms and have called on Reeves to call a special session to bring up the bill for a vote. Reeves has indicated he would call the session if lawmakers can agree on a plan, the report says. The state’s next regular session begins in January.

However, state Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson has said that he has a legal challenge ready were the Legislature to approve the reforms. In an August letter to state Attorney General Lynn Fitch, Gipson said that “elected officials took an oath of office to ‘faithfully support the Constitution of the United States … and obey the laws thereof’” and that cannabis legalization of any kind runs afoul of federal law.

“If the Mississippi Legislature were to enact and the governor were to sign into state law a medical marijuana program,” he wrote in the letter, “how would it be legal under the federal act to truck, ship, deliver, manufacture, distribute or dispense any part of the cannabis seed or plant as a Schedule 1 substance into the state of Mississippi?”

Last month, advocates held a protest demanding that Tate call the session to enact the reforms.