Senate panel ponders parameters of a new medical marijuana bill – Daily Leader
4 min read
The rationale of the medical marijuana initiative, approved by Mississippi voters in November – but recently rejected by the state Supreme Court – should be honored, members of the Senate Public Health Committee were told Thursday.
Ken Newburger, executive director of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association, admitted to the committee that there are areas where the now-invalid initiative 65 could be improved, such as giving local governments more leeway in zoning medical marijuana dispensaries and not the entire program under the umbrella of the underfunded and inadequately resourced Department of Health of the Mississippi state.
But Newburger, who worked to pass the medical marijuana proposal, said any laws passed in response to the Supreme Court’s rejection of Initiative 65 should adhere to the following principles:
• Providing widespread access to medical marijuana.
• Authorize doctors to certify the use of medical marijuana if they believe it would be beneficial.
• Allow the free market to dictate who can run a medical marijuana business.
• Ensure that the medical marijuana program is self-sustaining.
The Senate Public Health Committee hearing was the first since the Supreme Court last month invalidated the medical marijuana initiative and entire voting process. Legislative leaders and Governor Tate Reeves discussed the possibility of a special session to consider both the reintroduction of the medical marijuana program and the overall initiative process that allows citizens to collect signatures to put issues on the ballot for voters can decide.
Both the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Philip Gunn, and the Chairman of the Senate, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, observed part of the hearing from the back of a crowded committee room at the State Capitol, but left before the hearing was over.
Public Health Senate Chairman Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said Thursday’s hearing was a step in determining the type of program lawmakers should consider. The first question to be decided is what type of program the state should have – a recreational marijuana program, a tightly controlled medical marijuana program, or a loosely controlled medical marijuana program.
When asked if a special session was expected soon, Bryan said, “I don’t think there will be a special session until there is some consensus between the House and the Senate. If I were governor, I wouldn’t call anyone beforehand. “
Senator Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, asked if it would be wiser to only allow a recreational program.
“There’s a dichotomy between what people want and what science says,” said Wiggins. “Are we enabling doctors to do something that they don’t have the right data to do safely?”
He asked, “Why don’t we just jump into our free time with this?”
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