{"id":57513,"date":"2022-10-14T07:30:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T15:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/10\/14\/mississippi-medical-cannabis-program-has-80000-plants-so-far-but-zero-investigators-to-ensure-compliance\/"},"modified":"2022-10-16T19:46:43","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T03:46:43","slug":"mississippi-medical-cannabis-program-has-80000-plants-so-far-but-zero-investigators-to-ensure-compliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/10\/14\/mississippi-medical-cannabis-program-has-80000-plants-so-far-but-zero-investigators-to-ensure-compliance\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program Has 80,000 Plants So Far\u2014But Zero Investigators To Ensure Compliance"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cI am struggling with a very immature program. It is now stuck in that constipation mode.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Dozens of licensed cultivators have about 80,000 marijuana plants growing. Around 1,100 patients have signed up for medical marijuana, and 96 doctors or nurse practitioners are working to certify them. Small growers are complaining a large one has been allowed to skirt the rules.<\/p>\n

But the Mississippi State Department of Health has zero investigators\u2014and only three staffers\u2014overseeing Mississippi\u2019s new medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n

So far only one testing facility has been licensed and is only partially ready to test products. Plus, the health department\u2019s program director still has another job\u2014running the department\u2019s Office Against Interpersonal Violence.<\/p>\n

Health Department officials told the Board of Health on Wednesday that the agency is in a four-month \u201cprovisional\u201d period with licensed marijuana businesses. As it finds problems or violations, it\u2019s typically just issuing \u201ccorrective actions,\u201d giving marijuana businesses a chance to straighten up without hitting them with fines or sanctions or calling in law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The Health Department in a meeting with its board Wednesday pledged transparency in its oversight of medical marijuana, shortly before going into a closed door session to brief the board on specific active marijuana program investigations. During its public meeting, some board members\u2019 questions were deferred to the upcoming executive session.<\/p>\n

Some of the Board of Health questions Wednesday for the Health Department on marijuana were prompted by a Mississippi Today article<\/a> last week about Mockingbird Cannabis LLC, the largest marijuana grower licensed so far in Mississippi. Health Department documents and photos obtained by Mississippi Today showed the company did not follow state growing regulations.<\/p>\n

And the department\u2019s response so far\u2014to write Mockingbird Cannabis LLC a letter listing \u201ccorrective actions\u201d and to not answer questions\u2014has competitors crying foul. They said Mockingbird was allowed to grow and harvest a crop improperly and on the cheap in plastic- and cloth-covered greenhouses that will allow them to beat others growing in buildings to market as the state\u2019s medical marijuana program gets rolling.<\/p>\n

During board questions Wednesday, Mockingbird was not mentioned by name, but Health Board member Jim Perry said, \u201cThere has to be consequences for not following the law\u2026 If we send signals you are going to be economically rewarded by trying to jump over the line, that will provide incentive for others to do the same\u2026 If there\u2019s an active investigation we can\u2019t talk about it specifically yet.<\/p>\n

\u201dBut if actors are doing things clearly not allowed\u2014outdoor growing is clearly not allowed, you\u2019re not supposed to see it growing from a public area, and you\u2019re supposed to have security, locks, solid doors and walls\u2014that is flaunting and it will create a culture for others, if somebody\u2019s able, to economically benefit from that. If we\u2019re not ready to enforce, then we shouldn\u2019t have let them start growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Health Officer Daniel Edney, head of the Health Department, responded to Perry, \u201cI wholly disagree we are allowing anybody to get away with breaking the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know what I know, they are not going to economically benefit,\u201d Edney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy attitude is to be very strong as a regulator, but we are not ready\u2014we do not even have investigators,\u201d Edney said. \u201cRight now, if we investigated everybody the majority would fail, primarily the smaller growers\u2026 The provisional work is predicated on if there is no evidence of diversion or harm to the public. If there is, there will be forceful action. In the interim, if there is an opportunity to bring people into compliance, we will work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Health Department is trying to fill 25 positions for its medical marijuana program, and has three investigators scheduled to start by November 1. But Edney said the agency, along with others in state government, is facing a long lag time of several months in getting new hires \u201conboarded,\u201d officially hired and on payroll. This is a problem for all positions, including nurses, and not just for medical marijuana, Health Department officials said. Edney said the agency is operating with a 47% job vacancy rate.<\/p>\n

Perry earlier in the board meeting said the state Personnel Board is \u201cconstipated\u201d in getting new hires in. Later, Edney said of the marijuana program, \u201cI am struggling with a very immature program. It is now stuck in that constipation mode.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other cultivators had complained that Mockingbird Cannabis was being allowed to grow, in greenhouses and a plastic covered \u201choop house\u201d at a secondary site, 12 miles from its main operations on Springridge Road near Raymond. Other cultivators said they were told they had to limit their cultivation to one site, and that they were not allowed to grow in greenhouses.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Cannabis Program Director Kris Adcock told board members that Mockingbird has a \u201ctier VI\u201d cultivation license that provides for unlimited growing, or canopy, space. She said this means the company can grow at multiple locations, unlike those with smaller more limited licenses.<\/p>\n

Health Department inspectors on September 14, after receiving complaints likely from competitors, found that a Mockingbird grow site was out of compliance with several state growing regulations. Among the department\u2019s findings at the site: Mockingbird was growing plants in greenhouses with tarp or clear plastic walls (some rolled up and some with large holes in them) and lax security that included a loosely chained back fence gate with a padlock.<\/p>\n

State regulations say \u201call cultivation activities must take place in indoor, enclosed, locked and secure facilities\u201d that have a \u201ccomplete roof enclosure supported by connecting permanent walls, constructed of solid materials extending from the ground to the roof.\u201d The regulations also specify a long list of stringent security requirements including \u201ccommercial grade locks on all external doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Health Department inspectors, records show, also found that Mockingbird was growing plants without the required state \u201cseed-to-sale\u201d tracking tags attached.<\/p>\n

Mockingbird representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comments after the Wednesday board meeting. But in a lengthy interview last week, the company\u2019s CEO said it had corrected problems the Health Department pointed out and it plans to have marijuana product available soon\u2014likely the first for the new program.<\/p>\n

But Adcock told board members Wednesday that numerous recent reports about marijuana being available to patients soon is probably overly optimistic, in part because there will be a \u201cbottleneck\u201d from lack of testing companies and state investigators.<\/p>\n

Adcock was asked by the board about the state\u2019s \u201cseed-to-sale\u201d tracking system, whether it truly tracks every plant grown.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they tagged it and put it in the system,\u201d Adcock said.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Mississippi Today.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Federal Report Details Who\u2019s Impacted By Biden\u2019s Marijuana Pardon Action, State By State<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program Has 80,000 Plants So Far\u2014But Zero Investigators To Ensure Compliance<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\u201cI am struggling with a very immature program. It is now stuck in that constipation mode.\u201d By Geoff Pender, Mississippi Today Dozens of licensed cultivators have about 80,000 marijuana plants growing. Around 1,100 patients have signed up for medical marijuana, and 96 doctors or nurse practitioners are working to certifyContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57513"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57513"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57514,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57513\/revisions\/57514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}