John Schroyer
Mississippi cannabis regulators announced new revisions to industry regulations, with 202 pages of red-lined changes to the former rules released by the state Department of Health on Thursday.
The agency will accept industry comments and public feedback until Oct. 2, The National Law Review reported.
Tweaks to the South’s newest medical marijuana program – which just launched sales in January – have been in the works for months, as both regulators and state lawmakers have been busy proposing updates.
Many of the most significant changes from the Department of Health are more precise definitions for various marijuana industry terms, The National Law Review reported.
Among the highlights:
- A wealth of new technical term definitions, from “cannabis facility” to “total THC.”
- A clear distinction of “industrial hemp” from “cannabis,” which excludes “cannabis products” and “cannabis flower” from any hemp categories.
- Classifications of kief, hashish, bubble hash, oil, and wax all as “concentrates.”
- A more precise definition of “indoor cannabis cultivation.”
- Refining “medical cannabis establishment representative” to include anyone with a 10% or greater ownership stake in any MMJ business and also independent contractors that are relied upon to run day-to-day operations.
The new rules also greatly expand on rules that must be followed by medical marijuana patients, caregivers, and medical practitioners that offer recommendations for patients, including on how nonresidents can obtain medical cannabis cards to make purchases from dispensaries.
The rules for medical practitioners also include a new restriction on advertising services, which prohibits the use of slang such as “pot, weed, dope, or grass” or any images of marijuana or smoking paraphernalia, The National Law Review reported. They’re also prohibited from advertising on radio stations, television stations, in newspapers, with internet pop-up ads, on social media, with mass texts or mass emails, or with adopt-a-highway signs or electronic interstate signs.
The new rules also cover lengthy requirements for business licensing, background checks, work permits, business record keeping, product testing and safety, cannabis product packaging, transportation, and more.
There are currently 370 licensed medical cannabis businesses in Mississippi, according to the state medical cannabis program’s website, including:
- 194 dispensaries.
- 121 cultivators.
- 24 transporters.
- 20 processors.
- Six disposal entities.
- Five testing labs.
