![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-85.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The governor of Mississippi evaded questions from patient advocates who confronted him this week to ask when he will make good on his pledge to call a special session to pass a medical marijuana bill.<\/p>\n
Gov. Tate Reeves (R) had previously said he\u2019d convene a special session if lawmakers reached a deal on medical cannabis legislation. House and Senate leaders announced that they came to such an agreement last month<\/a>, yet the governor came back with several objections, forcing legislators to go back and make some compromises. Even after they did that, however, Reeves has held firm on what leadership says are \u201cunreasonable demands.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n He didn\u2019t seem too keen on addressing the possibility of a special session at a meet-and-greet event on Wednesday or at a separate event on Thursday where he was pressed on the issue.<\/p>\n Advocates approached Reeves at a restaurant, with one person pushing a boy in a wheelchair and handing him a photo of the child with a black eye that he got after having a seizure. \u201cWe need his medicine and we need it soon,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said that, \u2018We\u2019re working on it,\u2019\u201d the woman later told<\/a> a reporter from Mississippi Today. \u201cHe ran away from us in the restaurant as I tried to push Brian around in his wheelchair\u2026 We handed him a photo of Brian with a black eye from his seizures, and he tried not to take it but I forced his hand and he just kept saying, \u2018thank you, thank you\u2019 and tried to walk off.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t give me an answer,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe told him we know that both sides have agreed to something, and they\u2019re waiting on him to call a session. He would not answer us as to when the session would be. Pretty much, he treated Brian like he had the plague, barely even looked at him.\u201d<\/p>\n When reporters asked the governor about a special session, chasing him down after an event on Thursday, he simply said that it\u2019s \u201cdefinitely a realistic possibility\u201d and he and lawmakers are \u201ccontinuing to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n As far as legislative leaders are concerned, however, it\u2019s time to pull the trigger and get the bill passed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re ready to go,\u201d House Speaker Philip Gunn (R) said on Thursday. \u201cThe last communication I had with [Reeves] was about two weeks ago\u2014or, I guess about three weeks ago now. We called him and said, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re ready to go on this.\u2019 He said he\u2019d think about it. That\u2019s all I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/p>\n There are plenty of reasons for urgency on the issue. Beyond the obvious that patients are sick and may benefit from cannabis, there\u2019s the fact that legislators worked on the reform because the state Supreme Court shot down a medical marijuana legalization ballot initiative<\/a> that voters overwhelmingly passed last year on a constitutional technicality.<\/p>\n But what\u2019s more, lawmakers say that giving them the chance to pass legalization during a special session before the end of the year would help them address large issues like appropriating coronavirus funds when the legislature comes back into session in 2022.<\/p>\n One additional complication that legislators have faced is that Agriculture and Commerce Commissioner Andy Gipson strongly insisted that his department not be responsible for licensing marijuana businesses<\/a>. He sent letters to lawmakers<\/a>\u00a0and the state attorney general<\/a>\u00a0in recent weeks to express his opposition to regulating the program.<\/p>\n Legislators responded by placing that responsibility with the Health Department, and Gipson expressed gratitude for that on Thursday.<\/p>\n Under one version of the draft proposal that has been circulated, patients could purchase up to an ounce of cannabis per day, with a maximum purchase limit of 14 ounces per month.<\/p>\n \u2014 In addition to the conditions that were previously included in the voter-approved initiative that qualify patients for medical marijuana, the new legislation adds hepatitis, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, spastic quadriplegia and chronic pain.<\/p>\n After receiving an initial recommendation for medical cannabis from a licensed practitioner, patients would have to go back to their physician for a reevaluation six months later.<\/p>\n There would be a weight-based excise tax imposed on cannabis sales\u2014$15 per ounce of flower or trim\u2014as well as the state\u2019s general sales tax.<\/p>\n No home cultivation option would be permitted under the measure. Smoking cannabis would be allowed, but not in public spaces.<\/p>\n A poll released in June found that a majority of Mississippi voters support legalizing marijuana for both medical and recreational use, with 63 percent saying they want the legislature to\u00a0pass a bill that mirrors the ballot measure<\/a>\u00a0that was nullified by the court.<\/p>\n A\u00a0Senate committee held a series of hearings<\/a>\u00a0to take testimony on what a medical cannabis legalization bill could look like should lawmakers decide to pass the reform legislatively.<\/p>\n The governor said earlier this summer that \u201cI support the will of the voters,\u201d and \u201cI think we will have a medical marijuana program in Mississippi.\u201d He said it\u2019s \u201cimperative that we get it done, and get it done quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n But despite that stated support, it appears Reeves is willing to delay. He wants the legislation to restrict the amount of cannabis flower a person can possess to 0.7 grams\u2014or about two joints worth. And that\u2019s reportedly one issue at the center of why he\u2019s yet to agree to a special session.<\/p>\n Congress Should Pass Marijuana Banking As Legalization Support Builds, Black Small Business Owners Say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Mississippi Governor Dodges Questions About Medical Marijuana Special Session When Confronted By Patient Advocates<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The governor of Mississippi evaded questions from patient advocates who confronted him this week to ask when he will make good on his pledge to call a special session to pass a medical marijuana bill. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) had previously said he\u2019d convene a special session if lawmakers reachedContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":50847,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50848,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50846\/revisions\/50848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,200 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-84.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Mississippi Governor Dodges Questions About Medical Marijuana Special Session When Confronted By Patient Advocates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"