Mississippi’s long awaited and controversial Medical Cannabis Act becomes law next week. What you need to know.
First, the patient must have a qualifying medical condition diagnosed a physician participating in the Cannabis Program. The act establishes the qualifying conditions as:
• Cancer
• Parkinson’s disease
• Huntington’s disease
• muscular dystrophy
• glaucoma
• spastic quadriplegia
• positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
• hepatitis
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Crohn’s disease
• ulcerative colitis
• sickle-cell anemia
• Alzheimer’s disease
• agitation of dementia
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• autism
• pain refractory to appropriate opioid management
• diabetic/peripheral neuropathy
• spinal cord disease or severe injury
Also qualifying is a chronic terminal or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:
• cachexia or wasting syndrome
• chronic pain
• severe or intractable nausea
• seizures
• severe and persistent muscle spasms including, but not limited to, those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
Once the proper diagnosis is made, within 60 days, the patient must submit an application for registration to the program. If approved, the patient will receive an identification card for a specific time period as prescribed by their doctor. However, this cannot exceed one year. Once the card is received, the patient selects a licensed dispensary to purchase the prescribed cannabis.
The Mississippi Department of Revenue will begin accepting Medical Cannabis Dispensary Applications on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. More information is available regarding registration is available through Mississippi State Department of Health’s web page. And registration is available here.
The Mississippi Department of Revenue will begin accepting Medical Cannabis Dispensary Applications July 5, 2022. Applicants can visit www.dor.ms.gov/cannabis for more details and a detailed checklist of requirements. The Department plans to have dispensary applications approved within 60 days of submission.
There are also application and approval processes for caregivers and those working in and around cannabis suppliers and dispensaries as well. More information is available regarding registration is available through Mississippi State Department of Health’s web page.
