Mississippi
Recreational marijuana is not legal in Mississippi, but first-time possession of small amounts of flower marijuana (30 g or less) has been decriminalized. Violators face a fine of $250. Second-time possession of a similar amount is a misdemeanor punishable by 5-60 days in jail and a fine of $250. Subsequent offenses are also misdemeanors and result in a jail sentence of between 5 days and 6 months, as well as a $1,000 fine. Possession of 30 g or less in one’s vehicle (trunk excluded) is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Possession of more than 30 g of flower marijuana is a felony punishable in the following way:
• 30-250 g: Maximum term of imprisonment of 3 years and a fine of $1,000.
• 250-500 g: Minimum term of imprisonment of 2 years, maximum of 8 years; $50,000 fine.
• 0.5-1 kg: Minimum term of imprisonment of 4 years, maximum of 16 years; $250,000 fine.
• 1-5 kg: Minimum term of imprisonment of 6 years, maximum of 24 years; $500,000 fine.
• 5 kg or more: Minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years, maximum of 30 years; $1,000,000 fine.
Possession of even 0.1 g of THC concentrate is potentially a felony punishable by up to 1 year of incarceration and a fine of $1,000. Possession of more than 0.1 g is a felony punishable the following way:
• 0.1-2 g: Maximum term of imprisonment of 3 years and a fine of $50,000.
• 2-10 g: Maximum term of imprisonment of 8 years and a $250,000 fine.
• 10-30 g: Maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; $500,000 fine.
• 30 g or more: Maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine.
Cultivation of marijuana is illegal. The penalty is based on the total weight of the plants.
Mississippi does not currently have a medical cannabis program. Initiative 65 was passed by popular vote in November 2020, which was designed to amend the constitution of Mississippi and require a medical marijuana program be implemented in the state by August 2021. On May 14, 2021, the state Supreme Court ruled that the initiative could not be enacted because of a legal technicality within the constitution that makes all current ballot initiatives unconstitutional. As of February 2, 2022, a modified version of the initiative was signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves. The bill, SB 2095, limits the amount of cannabis that can be purchased to 3.5 g of flower cannabis (or 1 g of concentrate) per day with a monthly limit of 3 oz. Physicians who can recommend cannabis will include MDs and DOs who hold unrestricted licenses to practice medicine in the state of Mississippi. Once the program is online later in 2022 or possibly 2023, qualifying conditions will include:
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• Alzheimer's disease
• Chronic or debilitating pain
• Crohn's disease
• Epilepsy or other seizure disorders
• Glaucoma
• Hepatitis
• HIV/AIDS
• Huntington's disease
• Intractable nausea
• Muscular dystrophy
• Multiple sclerosis
• Neuropathy
• Parkinson's disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms
• Sickle-cell anemia
• Spastic quadriplegia
• Spinal cord disease or severe injury
• Ulcerative colitis
• Conditions that produce cachexia, seizures, muscle spasms, or chronic pain
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At present, the only operational cannabis program in Mississippi allows some patients and their caretakers to possess, administer, and consume low-THC cannabis formulations that contain more than 15% CBD and no more than 0.5% THC following the passage of Harper Grace’s Law in 2014. Physicians licensed to practice in Mississippi may obtain formulations that comply with the law through the University of Mississippi’s Center for National Production Research and must administer or supervise the administration of the formulation to qualifying patients. Currently, the only conditions for which physicians can provide these formulations of cannabis are epilepsy or seizures. On October 8, 2020, Governor Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 3056. The law removes all FDA-approved cannabis-derived drugs from Schedule V. The only drug matching this description is Epidiolex.
Mississippi’s CBD program is not open to residents of other states and the state of Mississippi does not recognize the validity of other jurisdictions’ medical cannabis programs.
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