Despite the battleground issue status that cannabis has in Texas, the fact that Mississippi may have medical cannabis soon is a bitter yet truthful reality that Texans must face. Due equal parts to Texas’ lack of a ballot initiative and the selfish Dan Patrick’s warpath against any cannabis reform whatsoever, The Magnolia State was able to gain the upper hand on Texas and vote to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes in the form of Initiative 65 by an almost supermajority. Unlike bills in South Dakota which only had about eight to ten percent more of the vote, Initiative 65 was passed by a 74 percent majority.
For context as to the sheer number of Mississippians that voted in favor of medical cannabis and the bill’s popularity, only 57 percent of the citizens voted for Trump in the 2020 election. And although the bill was passed by the citizens much to the dismay of the bowtie extraordinaire Governor Tate Reeves, who referred to it as “a liberal measure driven by stoners”, the bill is now being discussed and debated in both the Mississippi Legislature as well as a lawsuit filed by Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler.
Learn how to become a medical cannabis patient in Texas
For a boots on the ground look into the events and happenings of Mississippi’s status and litigation in possibly the most strongly Republican state, Texas Cannabis Collective spoke with the Executive Director of the Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association, Jessica Rice.
Following the overwhelming passing of Initiative 65, Rice and six others started the MSCTA to focus on the organization’s 3 main pillars: Advocacy, Education and Community. Everything from educating the public on the usefulness of medical cannabis to providing resources and education on getting involved in the industry and networking and educational opportunities.
Soon after Initiative 65 passed, the mayor of the Jackson suburb of Madison, Mary Hawkins Butler filed a lawsuit claiming something quite litigious. With the city tagline of “Where Families Come First” the lawsuit from the mayor of the town of 25,000 should’ve been a given. According to the Clarion Ledger, Hawkins Butler is arguing that the ballot signature collecting process is outdated and unconstitutional due to a 2000 decision to change the collected signature requirement.
Plaintiff Hawkins Butler’s argument has nothing to do with any concerns about public safety, access to minors, or any one of the regular opposition points brought up when debating against cannabis reform. Instead, the mayor is choosing the most litigious and bylaw-obsessed way. Oral arguments will be made in front of the Mississippi Supreme Court on April 14th.
While the lawsuit works its way through the court, Rice says that the Mississippi Legislature is now taking their chance to gain control of the industry. The MSCTA director stated that because Initiative 65 doesn’t explicitly say how the revenue is allocated or who controls the revenue, the Legislature is moving to file a bill that states that control.
“Senator Blackwell authored Senate Bill 2765, which in the first round was not good for Mississippians. It had high liquidity requirements to enter the industry, it had licensing caps, extremely high licensing fees and not well received. It went to committee and came out amended and much better. It got rid of licensing caps, it lowered the fees, got rid of the liquidity requirement to enter the industry. But they had issues pushing the bill through to the House and it went from being a “parralel program” to a safety net for the people of Mississippi if Initiative 65 were to be overturned by the Supreme Court.
Read more about Delta-8 in Texas
In The House, it went to the Ways and Means Committee, where it was amended by Rep. Joel Bomgar to match Initiative 65’s language. However, the Committee chair Trey Lamar realized he didn’t have the votes to push the bill through. He laid a motion on the table and essentially killed the bill.”
Rice then explained that the Senate then amended another bill created in 2014 called “Harper Grace’s Law” which allows for CBD research to include the language from SB 2765 that had gone to the house and failed. This amendment came in the form of House Bill 119, and the mother of the child whom the law is named after is “appalled” according to the Clarksdale Press Register. Ashley Durvall, mother of the bill’s namesake Harper Grace Durvall and original filer of the paperwork that became Initiative 65, says that it’s ridiculous that the legislators are using her daughter’s named bill to “undermine” the medical cannabis program in the state.
“Initiative 65 is the only medical marijuana program that will ever benefit my daughter, and the Legislature is trying to kill it using my daughter’s own bill. That is truly sick.”
Critics of SB 2765 and its language are worried that the industry will become far too government-controlled and will nullify all potential economic benefits for Mississippians, a state and people so heavily employed by small and independent businesses.
“Mississippi is a state that thrives off small businesses,” Rice explained, “and anything that has a high liquidity requirement like $10 million or the licensing fee is half a million or even $100,000, it excludes most Mississippians from participating.
And that is the position of the association is that we want this industry to be as accessible to many Mississippians as it can be. We’re not supportive of excluding people financially and it doesn’t matter what side of the aisle it comes from.”
As for economic benefits, Mississippi already has an advantage given the strong agricultural backbone and grand pool of experience in the state. The many farmers and those experienced in agriculture, sometimes with decades of familial experience, could easily transition into cannabis and utilize their skills for quality harvests.
Quite like other Legislature sessions, the Mississippi’s session regarding cannabis reform will prove to be an exciting one. If Mayor Hawkins Butler’s lawsuit is unconditionally dismissed and medical cannabis becomes a reality in one of the darkest red states in the country, the state could become a pioneer for both the cannabis industry in the Deep South and for other very conservative states who will soon legalize medicinally.