Mississippi Governor Signs Medical Marijuana Legalization Bill Into Law
By Kyle Jaeger
February 2, 2022
The governor of Mississippi on Wednesday signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana, making the state the 37th to enact the policy change in the country.
The legislature approved the measure last week with solid margins, advancing the reform more than one year after voters approved medical cannabis legalization at the ballot. That initiative was struck down by the state Supreme Court for procedural reasons, prompting lawmakers to take it up legislatively.
In a social media post, Gov. Tate Reeves (R) said that there’s “no doubt that there are individuals in our state who could do significantly better if they had access to medically prescribed doses of cannabis.” However, he reiterated concerns that there are “also those who really want a recreational marijuana program that could lead to more people smoking and less people working, with all of the societal and family ills that that brings.”
After the bill cleared both chambers and was amended, legislators convened for a conference committee to deliver a final product to Reeves, who had previously expressed some concern about purchase limits included in earlier version of the measure—even going so far as to threaten a veto.
While recent changes to legislation did reduce the amount of cannabis patients can buy, the governor didn’t get the specific lower purchase threshold policy that he pushed for. But he ultimately signed the legislation.
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