Last November more than a million Mississippi voters participated in the election to decide if Mississippi should have medical marijuana. And 74% of us voted for Initiative 65, the plan proposed by a citizen’s group to make medical marijuana safe and legal in our state. Now, it seems the Mississippi Legislature is working overtime to sabotage the will of the people.
This is nothing new. It seems the Legislature can’t stand the fact that the people went around them by using Mississippi’s initiative law to enact their own medical marijuana program. So, the Senate has already passed and now the House is considering a bill to create a separate medical marijuana program.
This legislation, known as Senate Bill 2765, would create a government-controlled market for marijuana businesses and a mountain of bureaucratic hurdles for any patient wanting to use medical marijuana to reduce their pain and suffering. In other words, the Legislature’s idea of a medical marijuana program is no program, even though more than 766,000 Mississippians voted in favor of a program last November.
Legislators also argue that Senate Bill 2765 is needed in case the state Supreme Court overturns last November’s election and rules that the constitutional provisions the people used to enact Initiative 65 are invalid. The lawsuit hinges on a legal technicality but there are plenty of legislators hoping the state Supreme Court will overturn the election and give them the power to decide the…
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Last November more than a million Mississippi voters participated in the election to decide if Mississippi should have medical marijuana. And 74% of us voted for Initiative 65, the plan proposed by a citizen’s group to make medical marijuana safe and legal in our state. Now, it seems the Mississippi Legislature is working overtime to sabotage the will of the people.
This is nothing new. It seems the Legislature can’t stand the fact that the people went around them by using Mississippi’s initiative law to enact their own medical marijuana program. So, the Senate has already passed and now the House is considering a bill to create a separate medical marijuana program.
This legislation, known as Senate Bill 2765, would create a government-controlled market for marijuana businesses and a mountain of bureaucratic hurdles for any patient wanting to use medical marijuana to reduce their pain and suffering. In other words, the Legislature’s idea of a medical marijuana program is no program, even though more than 766,000 Mississippians voted in favor of a program last November.
Legislators also argue that Senate Bill 2765 is needed in case the state Supreme Court overturns last November’s election and rules that the constitutional provisions the people used to enact Initiative 65 are invalid. The lawsuit hinges on a legal technicality but there are plenty of legislators hoping the state Supreme Court will overturn the election and give them the power to decide the…