Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act; remove potency limits for cannabis flower and trim and for cannabis tinctures, oils and concentrates.

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To: Public Health and
Welfare; Accountability,
Efficiency, Transparency
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Blackwell

SENATE BILL NO. 2455

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