Miss. Board of Health expresses ‘strong opposition’ to medical marijuana ballot initiative

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - The Mississippi Board of Health has come out against a ballot initiative that would make medical marijuana available to sick Mississippians.

In a special meeting in December of 2019, the board explored the pros and cons surrounding medical marijuana.

This as the Medical Marijuana 2020 campaign garnered enough votes to propose a constitutional amendment which would make medical marijuana available to Mississippians suffering from what they call ‘debilitating medical conditions.’

Medical Marijuana 2020 attended this December meeting as well as the Mississippi State Medical Association and the University of Mississippi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

While the board noted the potential medical benefits of marijuana, cannabidoil and THC, they also said there were numerous known harms of using cannabis products, including: addiction, mental illness, increased accidents, and smoking related harms.

The board also felt the proposed amendment gave very broad uses of medical marijuana, i.e. ‘pain management,’ and they felt they would have no ability to restrict the consumption of edibles or THC.

Because of this and other reasons, the Mississippi State Board of Health expressed their ‘strong opposition’ to the Medical Marijuana 2020 Ballot Initiative.

Mississippians will still be allowed to vote for or against the amendment in November of 2020.

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