Patients could become drug dealers if medical pot passes in MS, opponents say on Coast
Legalizing marijuana for medical purposes in Mississippi could lead to consequences like pot shops next to playgrounds and overburdened law enforcement, critics of a ballot initiative said at a Pascagoula press conference Wednesday morning.
Speakers, including Jackson County Sheriff Mike Ezell and Pascagoula-Gautier School District Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich, said the proposed amendment, Initiative 65, is too broad and would expand access to marijuana beyond those who would use it to treat medical conditions.
Local officials were joined by Hattiesburg businessman and State Board of Health official Ed Langton, who has been traveling the state in recent days to showcase opposition to the amendment.
“If we go for this, and this happens, the following year they’ll come back for legalization,” Ezell said, adding that the amendment could increase impaired driving.
The amendment would allow doctors to certify patients to obtain marijuana for a range of health conditions, including cancer, epilepsy and chronic pain. It would limit the amount of marijuana a patient can get every two weeks, and give the state health department the authority to regulate marijuana treatment centers.
Proponents of the amendment say it is narrowly tailored to expand access to marijuana to treat health conditions, unlike a 2015 effort to legalize recreational marijuana use, which failed to get enough signatures to make the ballot.
Proponents: MS patients should have access to pot
Jamie Grantham, communications director of Medical Marijuana 2020, which backs the initiative, said that the process of getting on the ballot is so arduous that doing it all over again is not something the organization would relish. Their goal is legalization for medical purposes only, she said.
“We are doing this for the patients in Mississippi who are suffering and deserve the same access as patients in other states,” she said.
The amendment’s sponsor, Ashley Durval, has advocated for legalizing medical marijuana for years because her daughter, Harper Grace, has been unable to get cannabis oil to treat her epileptic seizures.
At the Pascagoula press conference, Anthony T. McCullum, a pastor and probation officer in the Petal area, said Initiative 65 allows individuals to obtain more marijuana than they’re likely to need for medical purposes. The amendment says patients can have no more than 2.5 ounces per 14-day period.
A typical joint contains about half a gram or less of marijuana. Anything a patient doesn’t use could end up being sold, McCullum said.
“That increases the opportunity to sell drugs within already impoverished communities,” he said, noting that he serves many people who struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. “I don’t want to see families destroyed.”
Grantham said that Initiative 65 establishes careful regulation of medical marijuana providers. Each patient and their provider will be logged in a state database. Becoming a medical marijuana patient would be “the most absurd way” to sell the drug on the streets.
“People who want to do that are already doing that,” she added.
Medical marijuana bill alternative
There’s another medical marijuana ballot measure that McCullum said he is considering: Alternative 65A, which was written and passed by the Legislature to compete with Initiative 65. Alternative 65A would restrict smoking marijuana to terminally ill patients.
If 65A passes, numerous details would need to be worked out by state lawmakers.
McCullum’s wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 16 years ago, and he knows “firsthand that THC can have some benefits.” He said he’ll spend the next 90 days deciding whether to support 65A.
Proponents of Initiative 65 say 65A is an attempt to kill medical marijuana legalization by splitting supporters’ votes. For a ballot initiative to become a constitutional amendment, it must receive a majority of the votes cast for and against it, as well as at least 40% of all votes cast in the election.
Grantham said that 65A doesn’t include the basic components of a medical marijuana program, such as a list of qualifying conditions and a start date.
“Our initiative addresses all of those,” she said. “And things like smoking in public, that’s not allowed. Impaired driving, that’s not allowed.”
Langton said he thinks 65A is a better option than 65, but he doesn’t support any legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. “A lot of parents who smoke dope” could end up seeking doctors’ notes to obtain marijuana for their children, he said during the press conference.
“The products can be smoking it, vaping it, gummies, brownies,” he said.
Locally, supporters of Initiative 65 include Ocean Springs Mayor Shea Dobson and Barbara Allen, a member of the Harrison County Republican Party executive committee, according to a list published by Medical Marijuana 2020..
Nationwide, 33 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana.
This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 3:29 PM.
