Mississippi lawmakers hear testimony on medical marijuana

JACKSON, Miss.

Two outstanding Mississippi physicians urged lawmakers Monday to place “guardrails” in place if medical marijuana is legalized within the state, warning that officers must be cautious about making a product obtainable that has not been completely examined by the FDA — particularly relating to youngsters.

In the meantime, a affected person advocate advised the tales of three Mississippi youngsters who expertise seizures and need to have the ability to entry medical marijuana as a therapy. The advocate mentioned they’ve tried FDA-approved pharmaceutical medication, and none have helped.

The Mississippi Senate Public Well being and Welfare Committee met to listen to testimony on the impact a medical marijuana program might have on the state. It is the second time the committee has met for the reason that state Supreme Court docket dominated in Could {that a} voter-approved medical marijuana initiative is void as a result of Mississippi’s initiative course of is outdated.

Many lawmakers, together with Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, have expressed help for the Legislature returning to the Capitol outdoors of the conventional session to cross medical marijuana laws and honor the need of the voters.

To take action, they want the approval of the governor. Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves mentioned he’ll help a particular session, however he doesn’t need it to go on for too lengthy, costing extra taxpayer cash. The governor mentioned lawmakers want to come back to a consensus on find out how to implement this system earlier than returning to the Capitol.

The lawmakers gathered Monday didn’t talk about intimately what a medical marijuana program might appear like in Mississippi, or whether or not they imagine a medical marijuana program ought to exist within the state. They principally listened to audio system, which included lawmakers from Utah and Oklahoma — two states with their very own medical marijuana applications — physicians, an advocate and a enterprise proprietor that sells CBD merchandise.

Amy Smoot, a affected person advocate from DeSoto County, advised the tales of three households who need to entry medical marijuana to ease their youngsters’s struggling. She mentioned one 9-year-old woman’s household lastly went to Colorado in 2017, when no prescribed drugs have been working. After beginning on THC oil, she has not had a seizure in three years.

“I’m asking that you just give these youngsters an opportunity,” she advised lawmakers.

Medical marijuana advocates have been outraged after Initiative 65, a state constitutional modification authorized by voters final November, was thrown out. It might have required the Well being Division to create a program so marijuana might be obtainable to individuals with “debilitating” medical circumstances. The lengthy checklist included most cancers, epilepsy and sickle cell anemia.

Nevertheless, Dr. Jennifer Bryant, chair of the Mississippi State Medical Affiliation Board of Trustees, mentioned the concept of a medical marijuana program coming to Mississippi has at all times involved her. She mentioned she doesn’t see the marijuana plant as remedy, however fairly a substance to be studied. Calling marijuana remedy is “an try to make it extra benign than it truly is,” she mentioned.

Bryant mentioned with out sufficient restrictions in place, she fears individuals will abuse the medical marijuana program as a way to use the drug recreationally.

“We’re attempting to maintain guardrails on this system, nevertheless it’s a slippery slope,” she mentioned.

Dr. Scott Hambleton, medical director of the Mississippi Physicians Well being Program, shared her issues, saying he additionally wished extra analysis had been accomplished on the product.

Bryant mentioned if a program is applied, the legislature might want to make strict guidelines about how the product is packaged and marketed, avoiding something that might appeal to youngsters.

Mark Money, proprietor of the CBD dispensary The Inexperienced Guys in Starkville, mentioned there’s plenty of misconceptions about medical marijuana. When he began promoting CBD merchandise, he had a stereotype of what his clients can be like.

“As time progressed, that has drastically modified,” he mentioned. Money mentioned he sees shoppers from a wide selection of socio-economic backgrounds who’re on the lookout for any means to deal with their ache. Individuals who need medical marijuana aren’t any completely different, he mentioned.

Karmen Hanson of the Nationwide Convention of State Legislatures, mentioned 36 states, three territories and Washington D.C. have medical marijuana applications, and every place approaches the topic in another way. The applications are additionally continuously evolving over time, she mentioned.

“That is shouldn’t be a ‘one and accomplished’ scenario,” she mentioned. “You would possibly enact one thing one yr, and the subsequent yr you are going to have dozens of payments to make tweaks.”