JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi legislators began their three-month session Tuesday, and the mother of a man with chronic medical problems implored them to create a medical marijuana program, despite objections from Gov. Tate Reeves.
The Republican governor has said a proposed program would allow access to large quantities of the drug.
Creation of a medical marijuana program could be one of the first issues that the Republican-controlled House and Senate consider during the session’s opening weeks.
Angie Calhoun, founder and CEO of the Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance, said Tuesday that her 25-year-old son, Austin Calhoun, has experienced debilitating medical problems for several years because of chronic Lyme disease. She said 17 prescription drugs did not work for him, and he moved to Colorado to have access to marijuana to ease his pain.
“Without it, his symptoms do return,” Calhoun said during a news conference outside the Capitol.
Mississippi voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in November 2019. State Health Department officials spent months working to create a program, with the goal of having one in place by mid-2020. That effort was derailed when the state Supreme Court ruled in May that Mississippi’s initiative process was out-of-date and that the medical marijuana initiative was not properly on the ballot.
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Angie Calhoun, CEO and founder of The Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance and a number of members, board members and advocates for medical marijuana, addresses reporters at the Mississippi State Capitol, in Jackson, to listen to their plea to the Legislature to pass the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act “as is” on the first day of the new legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, (Courtesy: The Associated Press). -
Angie Calhoun, CEO and founder of The Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance, speaks of their plea for the Legislature to pass the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act “as is” on the first day of the new legislative session, Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 at the Mississippi State Capitol, in Jackson, (Courtesy: The Associated Press). -
A copy of the Legislative Budget Report for the 2023 fiscal year lies alongside a monitor in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Lawmakers begin the latest legislative session on Tuesday, at noon, (Courtesy: The Associated Press). -
Senators Mike Thompson, R-Long Beach, right, and Bart Williams, R-Starkville, get in some presession work in an almost empty Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Lawmakers gavel in the latest legislative session at noon on Tuesday, (Courtesy: The Associated Press). -
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Visitors to the Senate Chamber at the Capitol will find limited seating in the gallery as a COVID-19 protocol of social distancing will be followed as evidenced by the placards marking mandatory empty seats, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, in Jackson, Miss. Lawmakers gavel in the latest legislative session at noon on Tuesday, (Courtesy: The Associated Press). -
A box of Legislative Budget Reports for the 2023 fiscal year await distribution at the Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Lawmakers begin the latest legislative session on Tuesday, at noon, (Courtesy: The Associated Press).
After the Supreme Court issued its decision, Republican Sen. Kevin Blackwell of Olive Branch and Republican Rep. Lee Yancey of Brandon led discussions about creating a medical marijuana program. House and Senate leaders wanted Reeves to call a special legislative session to put the proposal into law. Reeves said last month that he wants revisions.
Calhoun said patients need to be able to buy “safe, effective and tested medical cannabis” in Mississippi.
“Each day that passes seems like an eternity to patients who are suffering and to the caregivers who watch them suffer,” she said.