As lawmakers prepare to vote on the legalization of medical marijuana in Mississippi, they are passing around two bags of marijuana and an unlit joint. Senator Kevin Blackwell holds one of the bags containing 3.5 grams. It’s about the size of a deck of playing cards.
“Under our formula, what we’re gonna do is allow people to have one unit, which would be one of these, and we’re going to allow them to purchase seven in a week.”
Several attempts were made to amend the legislation, with some wanting to tighten restrictions and others seeking to expunge criminal records for those who qualify for the medical marijuana program. Republican Senator Angela Hill of Picayune sought to ban combustible forms of marijuana, and have the distribution be overseen by pharmacists.
Hill says “Rather than them going with a card to a dispensary without a pharmacist and just going in there and somebody with eight hours [of training] saying ‘well you’ve got this disease, I think you should take this much of this, this much of this.’ That’s just not the way medicine works in my opinion.”
No amendments were adopted, and after nearly three hours of deliberation, the bill passed 47-5. Medical marijuana advocate Angie Calhoun says this is a big step for people like her son who have moved out of state to receive medicinal cannabis treatments.
“Gonna make me cry, because it means the world to me. Because I’ve seen my son suffer for nine years. He needed to be there [in Colorado] because he could get tested, safe cannabis. And it worked. It gave him his quality of life back. And that’s just what I want for all of the patients in our state that shouldn’t have to suffer any longer.”
More amendments are expected to be proposed when the bill is taken up by the House in the coming weeks, and could face a veto by the Governor who does not approve of the daily allotment of marijuana through the program.
