The guidelines that will dictate Mississippi’s medical marijuana industry are still in development, and business leaders are working together to get their licenses once regulations are finalized by the Department of Health. Melvin Robinson with the Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association helped organize an event to answer the legal questions that many business owners may have.
“Making sure that they are compliant as far as the rules and regulations. The Department of Revenue actually released a dispensary checklist recently, and we assume that the Department of Health will have a checklist as well for cultivators, processors, transportation facilities, things like that,” says Robinson. “It’s just not as simple as ‘hey we’re just going to fill this form out’ and we have a license in two days.”
Experts say these regulatory checklists can include security requirements, qualified employees, and proper documentation on sales.
Tom Pace is originally from Mississippi but has more recently worked in the cannabis industry in California. After 20 years, he’s coming home to Mississippi to create a vertically integrated medical marijuana company and says he’s prepared for a very competitive market.
“A lot of people are not thinking of how to sell their product,” says Pace. “In a market that collapses, you need to have very strong branding, multiple branding avenues, multiple revenue streams, low overhead, low liabilities, and keep things simple.”
The Department of Health is expected to finalize regulations for the state’s medical marijuana industry in the coming weeks.
