Initiative 65 would make medical marijuana available to Mississippians suffering from 22 debilitating illnesses such as epilepsy, cancer and chronic pain. Jaime Grantham is with Medical Marijuana 2000 Mississippi, the group that collected enough signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.
“We have so many stories of cancer patients who just couldn’t eat, couldn’t keep anything down, got to the point where they couldn’t drink water, and when taking medical marijuana that immediately helped them be able to get nutrients down,” said Grantham.
Initiative 65 requires a doctor’s exam to certify that a person can obtain up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana products like oils, gummies or to smoke every two weeks. The state health department would provide ID cards and administer the program. But Ed Langton, a member of the state board of health says they don’t support Initiative 65. He says the products aren’t approved by the Federal Drug Administration.
“The way to have it is to do it the proper way and to develop it to where it is a true medical product. But just saying marijuana is a medical product, is not. It’s false to even say that,” said Langton.
Langton supports the other referendum, Initiative 65 A. It allows the legislature to create a medical marijuana program. But Jaime Grantham with Medical Marijuana 2000 contends it was added to the ballot to confuse voters. Initiative 65 and 65A are constitutional amendments, which means if one of them passes, it will take another statewide vote to change it.
The first of a series of public hearings on Medical Marijuana takes place in Oxford, tonight.
