Mississippi House Passes Medical Cannabis Reforms Including ID Extensions, ‘Right to Try’ Provisions

Mississippi’s House this week passed a bill to extend the timeframe for
medical cannabis patients to keep their program IDs valid, and another
allowing the ‘right to try’ medical cannabis for patients who are suffering
from debilitating medical conditions that are not included on the state’s
qualifying conditions list, the Magnolia Tribune reports. The bill extending
the life of a medical cannabis program ID card extends the validity period
of the certification from one to two years.

Under current law, patients are required to make a 6-month follow-up visit
with their provider, but the bill would eliminate those requirements if it
becomes law.

Republican state Rep. Lee Yancey, the bill’s sponsor, told the Tribune that
the bill “can still require the patient to come back as often as necessary”
but removes the “mandatory” language included in the current law.

The bill also increases the resident-designated caregiver’s validity to
fill medical cannabis recommendations for those they care for to up to five
years.

“These are folks who are caring for someone who cannot or is not able to
come to the dispensary themselves. Currently, they had to get a
background check and they’re having to get a card every year, where the
background is lasting a lot longer than the card. This makes it
consistent.” — Yancey to the Tribune

The bill passed the House with a vote of 98-11.

Yancey was also the author of the ‘right to try’ legislation, which would
create a petition system for potential patients through the Mississippi
State Department of Health on a case-by-case basis.

“They would have had to have tried everything else. There would have to be
documented evidence of everything that they’ve tried,” Yancey
told the Tribune. “And the state health officer could allow, on a
case-by-case basis, this one individual to try medical cannabis. And it
would not open the door for any other person; it’s just on a case-by-case
basis.”

The proposal would require these patients undergo a re-evaluation every
year.

The bill passed the House 104-7.

Both bills move next to the Senate for consideration.