Mississippi: Marijuana Sales May Begin in November

The Mississippi Legislature approved the sale of medical marijuana in the state after receiving approval from the Senate and the House. This bill, signed into law by the Governor, makes Mississippi the 39th state in the country to legalize medical marijuana. The bill also mandates that licensing applications be received within 120 or 150 days of the act's approval, respectively, for dispensaries. Mississippi medical cannabis regulators released the licensing application for producers, processors, testing facilities, and transporters in compliance with the law.

This is in accordance with the authorities' expected timeline, which calls for sales to start by the end of 2022. To this end, there is no limit on the total number of licenses that may be granted. According to Mississippi legislation, patients will only be permitted to purchase around 3 ounces of marijuana each month, and the maximum THC content for flowers, concentrates, oils, and tinctures is 60%. More than a few locals have already created accounts on a website created by the state to handle patient and medical marijuana company license applications.

Although there is no limit on the number of licenses that can be issued, the legislation limiting opt out options provided to towns and counties may hinder efforts to promote massive sales. At least 44 Mississippi counties and municipalities have made the decision to forbid the medical marijuana industry from establishing itself there. South Mississippi's George and Pearl River counties, as well as D'Iberville, Pass Christian, Picayune, and Lucedale, are on the list. The first city on the coast to vote to opt out was Pass Christian.

The opportunity to opt out is no longer available to anyone who missed the 90-day cutoff. However, people who chose to opt out can choose to opt back in through an election or another vote by the governing bodies. For instance, Iuka and Philadelphia first chose to decline, but after consideration and investigation, decided to re-opt in. Opting out will not affect residents' rights to consume or possess marijuana in prescribed amounts, even though they may need to travel further to complete their prescriptions in certain locations

To further sales in the state, Mississippi and Texas-based Tyler Technologies recently struck a deal under which Tyler Technologies would offer a platform to assist state authorities in handling registrations and applications for medicinal cannabis businesses. The first nonrefundable application price for a dispensary license is $15,000, and the yearly license charge is $25,000.