What happened.
On May 7, 2021, the Mississippi State Department of Health released Medical Marijuana regulations covering a wide range of activities under Mississippi’s new Medical Marijuana law and set a public hearing on the new rules for May 28. The proposed regulations include general regulatory requirements, patient identification cards, reciprocal agreements, qualifications of principals, caregivers, processing, and use of Medical Marijuana in long term care settings.
What it means.
Under Initiative 65, passed overwhelmingly by Mississippi voters in November of last year, the Mississippi State Department of Health is required to issue final regulations governing the state’s new Medical Marijuana program on or before July 1. Under Mississippi’s Administrative Procedures Law state agencies are required to publish for public comment proposed rules before they are adopted in final form. The Department of Health previously released rules governing testing, tracking, and advertising of Medical Marijuana. Today’s release covers the following topics:
- Subpart 2: General Requirements
- Subpart 5: Issuance of Medical Marijuana Identification Cards
- Subpart 6: Reciprocity with Other States for Qualified Patients
- Subpart 7: Qualifications and Limitations on Owners, Board Members, Officers, Agents, Employees, and Contractors of Licensed Entities (Cultivators, Manufacturers, Dispensaries Participating in the Medical Marijuana Program)
- Subpart 8: Qualifications and Limitations of Caregivers
- Subpart 9: Safe and Secure Processing of Medical Marijuana
- Subpart 10: Use of Medical Marijuana in Long Term Care Settings.
Copies of the new rules can be accessed here.
Highlights of the new rules include:
- separate licensing of cultivators, dispensaries, testing facilities, and manufacturers, and setting of application fees at $10,000 (Rule 2.4.2) and license fees at $15,000 (2.5.5);
- entities may hold more than one type of license, but are not required to;
- no requirement for or prohibition of vertical integration or limits on the number of licenses; and
- all regulated entities are required to have a minimum of twenty-five (25) percent of their controlling ownership held by a current Mississippi resident (7.2.1).
The Department has set a public hearing on the proposed regulations for May 28, 2021 at 10:00 AM (Central). Comments may be supplied in writing at any time within the next twenty-five (25) days. A copy of the agency’s notice can be accessed here.
Butler Snow will continue to analyze the new rules and provide additional information in the days ahead.
