MJBizMag January 2023 - 43

Connecticut
Rhode Island
MISSISSIPPI
SNAPSHOT*
Ballot initiative or legislation: Gov. Tate Reeves signed Senate Bill 2095
on Feb. 2, 2022, to enact the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act.
Mississippi voters had approved a ballot initiative in 2020, but the state
Supreme Court voided that measure on a technicality.
Regulatory agency: The state Department of Health is responsible
for licensing cultivation, disposal, processing, research, testing and
transportation, as well as administering the program and registering
caregivers, health practitioners and patients. The Department of
Revenue is responsible for licensing dispensaries.
Business license types and application and license fees:
Application Fees
$1,500-$60,000
License Fees
Cultivation/micro-cultivation
Processor/micro-processor
Research
Testing
Transportation
$2,000-$15,000
$15,000
$10,000
$5,000
$2,000-$150,000
$3,500-$20,000
$20,000
$15,000
$7,500
License caps: No limit on the number of licenses.
State tax requirements: Medical marijuana will be subject to a 7%
state sales tax.
Out-of-state applicants: Yes. At least 35% of businesses must be held
by Mississippi residents.
Product types allowed/restrictions: A potency cap of 30% THC for
flower and 60% for concentrates, oils and tinctures.
Anticipated sales launch: January 2023.
Predicted size of market: $100 million in the first year, $800 million
in year four.
Local control and opt-in/opt-out rules: The law gives cities and
counties 90 days to opt out of allowing medical marijuana facilities
for growing or selling. However, people in those communities could
petition for an election to overrule local officials' decisions.
Social equity provisions: None.
* Data is from the 2022 MJBiz Factbook, MJBizDaily and MJBizMagazine and
the Mississippi Department of Revenue, unless otherwise noted.
Alabama
Mississippi
means potential patients have very
little disposable income.
So far, only about 400 patients have
registered for the program, and around
120 health care professionals are
licensed to enroll patients.
" It's going to take a public education
program to ... say, 'This is an option
now,' " Pittman said. " We have to see if
it's it going to be cost-prohibitive for
people to participate, because you have
to pay cash-there's no Medicaid or
insurance. "
" It's something that I think folks in
other parts of the country don't understand.
(Poverty) kind of goes hand in
hand with a different mindset. ... You
have to come to the level of the patient. "
OUTSIDERS NEEDED
As much as Mississippi is to be commended
for making its regulations
friendly toward cannabis businesses
that are local and small, the state will
need experienced industry veterans
to help launch the program-some of
whom will likely come from out of state.
" Because it is more of a poor state,
we need some sophisticated folks to
show up and build those Tier 4, 5 and 6
facilities, " said Pittman, referring to the
larger tiers of grow facilities outlined in
the state's regulations. " But we also want
to allow the locals to give it a shot. "
In-state and out-of-state
entrepreneurs often try to enter a
newly regulated state's industry with
unrealistic expectations. In-state
entrepreneurs without experience
don't realize how long it can take to
launch a cultivation or manufacturing
facility, while out-of-state
entrepreneurs who have experience in
cannabis don't understand how little
capital some Mississippians have- and
how slowly things move.
" They're seeing that this is a slower
pace of life ... out in the country. This
is not a cosmopolitan population, and
they don't have a whole lot of money, "
Pittman said.
Omar Sacirbey is senior
writer for MJBizMagazine.
You can reach him at omar.
sacirbey@mjbizdaily.com.
mjbizdaily.com | January 2023 43
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MJBizMag January 2023

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