Members of House and Senate meet to hash out differences over medical marijuana bill

by

Desare Frazier

• Published on March 26, 2021 • Last modified on March 25, 2021 • Comments

Marijuana under glow lights at a Denver, CO. warehouse
AP/Ed Andrieski

A Medical marijuana bill is among the measures lawmakers from both chambers are meeting about in hopes of hashing out a compromise during the final days of the session.

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Members of the House and Senate are meeting about House Bill 119. Senators say it would replace Initiative 65, which makes medical marijuana legal in the state. The initiative is being challenged in state supreme court because of signature collections. Initially HB 119 kept CBD or cannabis oil available in the state. To keep the medical marijuana issue alive, the Senate added language from Initiative 65 with some revisions.. Ken Neuberger with the Mississippi Marijuana Association thinks lawmakers should leave the issue alone for now.

“There are a lot of hang-ups in what lawmakers are working on. A lot of patience access problems that would limit patients across the state from getting access to the marijuana that they really want. As well as it would be a lot of high barriers to entry for business here in the state,” said Neuberger.

Seventy-four percent of Mississippians voted for Initiative 65 in November. The state supreme court is scheduled to hear the challenge to the Initiative next month.