{"id":49393,"date":"2021-08-11T10:08:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T18:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/08\/11\/mississippi-lawmakers-very-close-to-deal-on-medical-marijuana-bill-negotiators-say\/"},"modified":"2021-08-11T13:45:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T21:45:39","slug":"mississippi-lawmakers-very-close-to-deal-on-medical-marijuana-bill-negotiators-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/08\/11\/mississippi-lawmakers-very-close-to-deal-on-medical-marijuana-bill-negotiators-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Lawmakers \u2018Very Close\u2019 To Deal On Medical Marijuana Bill, Negotiators Say"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

A draft bill to legalize medical cannabis in Mississippi could be taken up a special session in the legislature this month.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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

The lead Senate and House negotiators working on a Mississippi medical marijuana program to replace the one shot down by the state Supreme Court say they\u2019re close to having a draft that could prompt a special legislative session<\/a>, as early as this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we have basically most of the major issues resolved,\u201d said Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, who\u2019s leading the Senate\u2019s medical marijuana work. \u201cWe\u2019re very, very close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, said, \u201cI would be surprised if there were not a special session soon, but that\u2019s not my call \u2026 I think at some point soon we will be ready to say to the governor that we have something we can work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mississippi lawmakers are trying to reach consensus on a medical marijuana program<\/a> after the state Supreme Court shot down one overwhelmingly passed by voters<\/a> last year with ballot Initiative 65. The state Supreme Court ruled in May that the medical marijuana initiative<\/a> and the entire ballot initiative process is invalid.<\/p>\n

Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has sole authority to call lawmakers into a special session. He has said he would do so for a medical marijuana bill, but not before the House and Senate have general agreement on a proposal<\/a> to avoid a long, drawn out session.<\/p>\n

Blackwell and Yancey had previously estimated a session could be called by mid-August. They said that might be pushed back, but that having one before the end of the month is still doable.<\/p>\n

Neither Blackwell nor Yancey would provide specifics of agreements they\u2019ve reached<\/a> on taxation, licensing and other particulars of a program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we owe it to other legislators to let them have a chance to view and vet what we have worked on to this point,\u201d Yancey said. \u201cEach of us will have to get consensus to get 3\/5 passage in both houses. We are cognizant of how important this is, that there are those our there who need this medication, and we are trying to put together a program we can be proud of \u2014 and know that we will have to tweak it year to year \u2014 but trying to get it as good as we can on the first push.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blackwell said: \u201cThey don\u2019t have a program right now, and I think we are going to give them a program that is better than the one from Initiative 65.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ken Newburger, director of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association, said he\u2019s been in contact with Blackwell and Yancey, and is likewise confident an agreement, and a special session, will happen soon. Newburger said he believes lawmakers have taken input from medical marijuana advocates, patients and business leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s been the most refreshing and surprising part of this whole legislative process, has been the willingness of the legislators in both chambers to reach out to people who have been advocating it, and patients who have been advocating it for years,\u201d Newburger said.<\/p>\n

Newburger said his association has four main points it wants lawmakers to retain from the defunct Initiative 65:<\/p>\n