{"id":48533,"date":"2021-06-28T16:30:08","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T00:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/06\/28\/mississippi-lawmakers-get-medical-marijuana-advice-from-oklahoma-and-utah-as-they-craft-new-bill\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T01:45:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T09:45:18","slug":"mississippi-lawmakers-get-medical-marijuana-advice-from-oklahoma-and-utah-as-they-craft-new-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/06\/28\/mississippi-lawmakers-get-medical-marijuana-advice-from-oklahoma-and-utah-as-they-craft-new-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Lawmakers Get Medical Marijuana Advice From Oklahoma And Utah As They Craft New Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the governor a couple of weeks ago we should have something by mid-July, an agreement between the House and Senate,\u201d a senator said. \u201cBy August I believe we could have a special session.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Geoff Pender, Mississippi Today<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mississippi lawmakers pondering a medical marijuana program heard on Monday from colleagues from two ends of the spectrum: Utah, which strictly regulates medical marijuana, and Oklahoma, whose program is so open it resembles recreational marijuana use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis begins to look a lot like de facto recreational use,\u201d Mississippi Senate Public Health Chairman Hob Bryan, D-Amory, told Oklahoma state Rep. Scott Fetgatter, who spoke with Bryan\u2019s committee via Zoom. Fetgatter told lawmakers his state has issued about 400,000 medical marijuana use cards and issued about 10,000 business licenses for dispensaries, cultivators, processors and testing labs. Oklahoma has about 2,000 dispensaries, allows smoking of medical marijuana and allows patients to grow a small number of plants in their homes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is a fair statement,\u201d Fetgatter said. \u201cWe\u2019d be better off at this point if we had an adult use (recreational) program along with medical marijuana\u2026 Ten percent of our population currently has a medical marijuana card\u2026and two to three people are using each one of those cards\u2026 I had no idea there were so many ill people in Oklahoma\u2026 A large amount of the population in Oklahoma is using medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n

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By contrast, Utah has only about 23,000 people with medical marijuana use cards\u2014about 1 percent of its population\u201442 dispensaries that operate more like pharmacies and a \u201ccap\u201d of only eight growers licensed. The state does not allow smoking of medical marijuana or home growing and it charges a hefty fee\u2014$100,000 for a dispensary license, which limits who can enter the market.<\/p>\n

Utah state Sen. Evan Vickers, also appearing via Zoom, said there had been some issues with growers, particularly those in large \u201cvertically integrated\u201d companies that grow, process and dispense, not wanting to sell to some dispensaries and other \u201cdisruptions\u201d in supplying medical marijuana to patients.<\/p>\n

Mississippi lawmakers are trying to reach consensus on a medical marijuana program<\/a> after the state Supreme Court shot down one<\/a> overwhelmingly passed by voters last year<\/a> with ballot Initiative 65. The state Supreme Court ruled last month that the medical marijuana initiative and the entire ballot initiative process is invalid. Legislative leaders and Gov. Tate Reeves (R) have discussed the possibility of a special session<\/a> to consider both the reinstatement of the medical marijuana program and entire initiative process where citizens can gather signatures to place issues on the ballot for voters to decide.<\/p>\n

Many medical marijuana advocates and Initiative 65 supporters<\/a> say they don\u2019t want the state to over-regulate a program to the point patients can\u2019t get cannabis, or where only big marijuana corporations could participate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they need to find a happy medium between Utah and Oklahoma type programs and do what\u2019s in the best interest for patients in Mississippi,\u201d said Angie Calhoun, chairwoman of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association and mother of a son who suffered debilitating seizures, inability to eat and other problems that were untreatable with pharmaceuticals but helped by medical marijuana. \u201cWe don\u2019t want them to overregulate, and we don\u2019t want to see $100,000 license fees like in Utah.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Vickers and Fetgatter offered Mississippi lawmakers some advice from their hard-learned experiences in Utah and Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s medicine, then treat it like medicine,\u201d Vickers said. \u201cWe require cannabis pharmacies, where they have some expertise, not cannabis dispensaries where someone\u2019s main expertise is that they\u2019ve gotten high before\u2026 The vertically integrated companies are more efficient, where they own all three: the cultivation, the processing and the pharmacy. You just don\u2019t want them to own the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fetgatter recommended any state creating a program have a \u201cstand-alone\u201d agency overseeing medical marijuana.<\/p>\n

Fetgatter also said: \u201cWe have an issue with the criminal element moving into our state, legally growing, but then trafficking the marijuana outside our state\u2026 Make sure you protect your agricultural and rural land from foreign investors. They will trash your rural areas with large grow operations if you let them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves, who as governor has sole authority to call a special session, said he would do so only if Senate and House leaders are on the same page with a medical marijuana program and other issues.<\/p>\n

Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, who has led the push to pass a medical marijuana program in the Legislature, on Monday said he believes such a consensus could be reached soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the governor a couple of weeks ago we should have something by mid-July, an agreement between the House and Senate,\u201d Blackwell said. \u201cBy August I believe we could have a special session.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann (R), who presides over the Senate, sat in on the morning part of the day-long hearing on Monday. He wouldn\u2019t speculate on a special session.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll have to check with the governor,\u201d Hosemann said. \u201cThe governor is who calls special sessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Senate Public Health Committee will hold a public hearing to discuss medical marijuana today at 10:30 a.m. <\/p>\n

You are invited. <\/p>\n

Join us in room 216 or online at: https:\/\/t.co\/heMoHGjbt9<\/a>\u2026.#msleg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Senator Kevin Blackwell (@KevinBlackwell5) June 28, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The Senate Public Health Committee at its Monday hearing also heard from:<\/p>\n