One of the largest operators in Mississippi’s fledgling medical marijuana industry did not follow state regulations, according to Department of Health documents obtained by Mississippi Today.
But the department’s response so far — to write Mockingbird Cannabis LLC a letter listing “corrective actions” — has competitors crying foul. They say Mockingbird was allowed to grow and harvest a crop improperly and on the cheap in plastic- and cloth-covered greenhouses that will allow them to beat others growing in buildings to market as the state’s medical marijuana program gets rolling.
They also say the department appears to be giving big-money Mockingbird special treatment that will shut out others, particularly smaller home-grown Mississippi companies.
“(Mockingbird) has come in and thrown a lot of money around and they are expecting to be pandered to,” said Zack Wilson, chief operating officer of Good Flower Farms, a smaller grower in Potts Camp. “Pictures don’t lie. They have broken the damned law. What is the state going to do to them? That’s what everybody wants to know.”
Others in the industry shared similar sentiments but would not comment publicly. Mississippi Today was supplied photos taken from outside one of Mockingbird’s growing sites that show what appear to be violations of state regulations. One regulation…
