Medical cannabis; remove THC potency limits for cannabis concentrates.

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To: Business and Commerce
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Yancey

HOUSE BILL NO. 894

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-137-39, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REMOVE THE THC POTENCY LIMITS FOR CANNABIS TINCTURES, OILS AND 2
CONCENTRATES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 4
SECTION 1. Section 41-137-39, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 5
amended as follows: 6
41-137-39. (1) (a) The MDOH shall obtain criminal records 7
background checks on all persons applying to become a licensee, an 8
agent, or representative as defined herein, of a medical cannabis 9
establishment. This shall include performing criminal records 10
background checks on all potential employees, current employees, 11
or representatives/agents of the MDOH Medical Cannabis Program. 12
The required criminal history background check includes 13
information provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 14
(b) For the purposes of this section, an applicant is 15
any person who registers with or applies for an initial medical 16
cannabis work permit, or a renewal of a medical cannabis work 17
permit. Such a person or applicant may also be defined as an 18
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agent, an employee, a representative, etc., as further defined and 19
sometimes used interchangeably as referenced in this section. 20
(c) For purposes of this section, an agent is a person 21
who acts for or on behalf of, or who represents a medical cannabis 22
establishment while in the course of business or employment with 23
the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program and may also be referred 24
to as an agent, a representative, or vice versa. 25
(d) Representative means a principal officer, owner of 26
ten percent (10%) or greater economic interest in a medical 27
cannabis establishment with direct or indirect interest, officer, 28
director, manager, employee, agent, volunteer, or other type of 29
representative of a registered medical cannabis licensee 30
establishment. 31
(e) Principal officer means a person(s) who has 32
ultimate responsibility for implementing the decisions of a 33
cannabis testing facility or other such medical cannabis 34
establishment and includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the 35
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Administrative Office (CAO), 36
Chief Financial Officer, (CFO), as applicable. Elected or 37
appointed, the board as a whole creates agency policies and 38
oversees the agency's managerial positions. 39
(f) Board member means an individual on a medical 40
cannabis establishment's company or agency board which serves as 41
an organization's governing body. 42
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(g) Principal owner means the primary owner of a 43
medical cannabis establishment, but often may be the sole owner. 44
(h) Any and every person/applicant seeking to become an 45
owner or principal owner, principal officer, or officer, board 46
member, director, manager, agent/representative, employee, care 47
giver, or volunteer of a medical cannabis establishment shall 48
apply for, or authorize the MDOH to obtain state and national 49
criminal background checks to be conducted by the Mississippi 50
Justice Information Center of the Department of Public Safety and 51
the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 52
(i) Such criminal background checks shall conform to 53
the applicable federal standards and shall include the taking of 54
fingerprints. 55
(j) Once the Mississippi Justice Information Center of 56
the Department of Public Safety completes a state level criminal 57
history background check, they will forward the fingerprints to 58
the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal 59
history background check. 60
(k) The person seeking to become an 61
agent/representative of a medical cannabis establishment shall 62
authorize the release of such criminal background checks to the 63
MDOH and shall be responsible for the payment of any fee that the 64
Mississippi Justice Information Center of the Department of Public 65
Safety or the MDOH charges to process fingerprint-based state and 66
national criminal background checks. The Department of Public 67
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Safety and the MDOH each may charge and retain a fee not to exceed 68
Sixty Dollars ($60.00) for each applicant. 69
(l) The Mississippi Justice Information Center of the 70
Department of Public Safety shall forward to the MDOH all 71
information obtained concerning the applicant. MDOH will not 72
disseminate the information and will only use such information as 73
required to fulfill the purposes of this act. 74
(2) A medical cannabis establishment may not employ any 75
person who: 76
(a) Was convicted of a disqualifying felony offense; or 77
(b) Is under twenty-one (21) years of age. 78
(3) The operating documents of a medical cannabis 79
establishment must include procedures for the oversight of the 80
medical cannabis establishment and procedures to ensure accurate 81
record keeping and adequate security measures. 82
(4) A medical cannabis establishment shall implement 83
appropriate security measures designed to deter and prevent the 84
theft of medical cannabis and unauthorized entrance into areas 85
containing medical cannabis. 86
(5) All cultivation, harvesting, processing and packaging of 87
medical cannabis must take place in an enclosed, locked and secure 88
facility with a physical address provided to the MDOH during the 89
licensing and registration process. The facility shall be 90
equipped with locks or other security devices that permit access 91
only by agents of the medical cannabis establishment, emergency 92
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personnel or adults who are twenty-one (21) years of age and older 93
and who are accompanied by medical cannabis establishment agents. 94
(6) No medical cannabis establishment other than a cannabis 95
processing facility or cannabis research facility may produce 96
cannabis concentrates, cannabis extractions, or other cannabis 97
products. 98
(7) A medical cannabis establishment may not share office 99
space with or refer patients to a practitioner. 100
(8) Medical cannabis establishments are subject to 101
inspection by the MDOR and MDOH during business hours. 102
(9) Before medical cannabis may be dispensed to a 103
cardholder, a dispensary agent must: 104
(a) Require that the individual present a registry 105
identification card; 106
(b) Make a diligent effort to verify that the registry 107
identification card presented to the dispensary is valid; 108
(c) Make a diligent effort to verify that the person 109
presenting the registry identification card is the person 110
identified on the registry identification card presented to the 111
dispensary agent; and 112
(d) Not believe that the amount of medical cannabis 113
dispensed would cause the person to possess more than the 114
allowable amount of medical cannabis. 115
(10) A medical cannabis establishment shall not sell more 116
than the allowable amount of medical cannabis to a cardholder. A 117
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resident cardholder shall not obtain more than a total of 118
twenty-four (24) MMCEUs of allowable medical cannabis in thirty 119
(30) days from a dispensary or a combination of dispensaries. 120
The possession limit for resident cardholders of the 121
allowable amount of medical cannabis shall be a total of 122
twenty-eight (28) MMCEUs. There shall not be a possession limit 123
on nonconsumable medical cannabis, including, but not limited to, 124
suppositories, ointments, soaps, and lotions or other topical 125
agents. 126
(11) For purposes of this chapter, total THC is defined as 127
THCA multiplied by .877 plus THC Delta 9 and all other 128
psychoactive forms or isomers of THC added together. A medical 129
cannabis establishment shall not sell cannabis flower or trim that 130
has a potency of greater than thirty percent (30%) total THC. 131
* * * Cannabis products that have a potency of over thirty 132
percent (30%) total THC shall be clearly labeled as "extremely 133
potent." Edible cannabis products, including food or drink 134
products, that have been combined with usable cannabis or cannabis 135
products shall be physically demarked and labeled with a clear 136
determination of how much total THC is in a single-serving size 137
and how much THC is in the entire package. 138
A medical cannabis product shall contain a notice of harm 139
regarding the use of cannabis products. Edible cannabis products 140
shall be homogenized to ensure uniform disbursement of 141
cannabinoids throughout the product. All molded edible cannabis 142
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products shall be presented in the form of geometric shapes and 143
shall not be molded to contain any images or characters designed 144
or likely to appeal to minors, such as cartoons, toys, animals or 145
children. 146
(12) A dispensary may not dispense more than the allowable 147
amount of cannabis to a registered qualifying patient or a 148
nonresident cardholder, directly or via a registered designated 149
caregiver. Dispensaries shall ensure compliance with this 150
limitation by maintaining internal, confidential records that 151
include records specifying how much medical cannabis is being 152
dispensed to the registered qualifying patient or nonresident 153
cardholder and whether it was dispensed directly to a registered 154
qualifying patient, nonresident cardholder or to the registered 155
designated caregiver. 156
(13) A nonresident cardholder shall not obtain more than a 157
total of six (6) MMCEUs of allowable medical cannabis in a week 158
from a dispensary or a combination of dispensaries. A nonresident 159
cardholder shall not obtain more than a total of twelve (12) 160
MMCEUs of allowable cannabis from a dispensary or a combination of 161
dispensaries in a fifteen-day period. 162
(14) A nonresident may apply to receive a nonresident 163
registry identification card up to thirty (30) days before 164
arriving in Mississippi. A nonresident registry identification 165
card shall be valid for fifteen (15) days. After the expiration 166
of the card, a nonresident may apply for a renewal of the card and 167
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may be granted another card which shall be valid for another 168
fifteen-day period. A nonresident registry identification card 169
shall only be valid, at a maximum, for two (2) separate periods of 170
fifteen (15) days in a three-hundred-sixty-five-day period. An 171
applicant may indicate on his or her application the specific time 172
period that he or she wishes for the card to be valid. The 173
possession limit of the allowable amount of medical cannabis for 174
nonresident cardholders shall be fourteen (14) MMCEUs. 175
(15) A medical cannabis dispensary agent or employee shall 176
not issue a written certification. Employees and agents of a 177
medical cannabis dispensary shall complete at least eight (8) 178
hours of continuing education in medical cannabis as regulated by 179
the MDOR in order to be certified to work at a medical cannabis 180
dispensary. After the first year of employment, these employees 181
shall complete five (5) hours of continuing education in medical 182
cannabis annually to maintain this certification. 183
(16) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a 184
patient with a debilitating medical condition who is between 185
eighteen (18) years to twenty-five (25) years of age is not 186
eligible for a medical cannabis registry identification card 187
unless two (2) practitioners from separate medical practices have 188
diagnosed the patient as having a debilitating medical condition 189
after an in-person consultation. One (1) of these practitioners 190
must be a physician or doctor of osteopathic medicine. 191
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If one (1) of the recommending practitioners is not the 192
patient's primary care practitioner, the recommending practitioner 193
shall review the records of a diagnosing practitioner. The 194
requirement that the two (2) practitioners be from separate 195
medical practices does not apply if the patient is homebound or if 196
the patient had a registry identification card before the age of 197
eighteen (18). 198
(17) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a medical 199
cannabis establishment shall not allow an individual who is 200
younger than twenty-one (21) years old to enter the premises of 201
the establishment unless the individual possesses a registry 202
identification card and is accompanied by his or her legal 203
guardian. 204
(18) A medical cannabis establishment shall only purchase, 205
grow, cultivate, and use cannabis that is grown and cultivated in 206
this state. Any medical cannabis that is grown and cultivated in 207
this state shall not be transported outside of this state. 208
(19) Employees of all medical cannabis establishments shall 209
apply for a work permit with the MDOH and MDOR, as applicable, 210
before beginning employment with any establishment. The licensing 211
agency for the respective medical cannabis establishment may issue 212
work permits to these individuals. These licensing agencies shall 213
maintain a work registry of all applicants and work permits 214
issued. The fee for a work permit shall be Twenty-five Dollars 215
($25.00) and the permit shall be valid for five (5) years. Work 216
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permits shall be the property of the employee and shall not be 217
transferable to other employees. 218
(20) For purposes of this subsection, "plant growth 219
regulator cannabis" shall mean a cannabis plant whose growth and 220
structure has been modified using plant growth hormones. A 221
cannabis cultivation facility shall not cultivate and a cannabis 222
dispensary shall not sell, transfer or provide for consumption 223
plant growth regulator cannabis. 224
(21) A medical cannabis dispensary shall only make sales to 225
cardholders inside the dispensary. A medical cannabis dispensary 226
shall not sell or otherwise convey medical cannabis to a 227
cardholder through the means of a drive-through, curbside delivery 228
or other delivery outside the premises of the dispensary. Any 229
topical cannabis product that is purchased by a dispensary from a 230
licensed processor, and that is not ingested by the liver, may be 231
sold to a cardholder or any person over the age of twenty-one (21) 232
years old who is not a cardholder. Such products shall be placed 233
in an area of the dispensary that does not require access with a 234
registry identification card. 235
(22) Any and all contracts or agreements entered into by the 236
MDOH and MDOR for information technology software, hardware, 237
and/or services for the purpose of implementing and/or operating 238
under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act shall include language 239
reasonably limiting the ability of the vendor to escalate the 240
ongoing cost of such software, hardware, and/or services during 241
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ST: Medical cannabis; remove THC potency limits
for cannabis concentrates.
the term of the contract, including any amendments and/or 242
extensions. 243
(23) The MDOR and MDOH shall not share the name, address or 244
personal data of a registry identification cardholder to any 245
federal government entity. 246
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 247
and after July 1, 2026. 248