Mississippi Legalizes Cannabis For Treatment Of Cancer, AIDS And Alzheimer's

Illustration of cannabis cultivation. (Unsplash/terredicannabis)

JAKARTA - Mississippi joined 36 other states in the United States in legalizing marijuana for medical use on Wednesday, when the governor signed a bill allowing marijuana for the treatment of severe and debilitating health conditions such as cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's disease.

Announcing the bill's enactment, Governor Tate Reeves said the final version passed last week by the Republican-controlled legislature was designed to curb recreational marijuana use, such as by allowing patients to get no more than 3 ounces of marijuana per month, or 3.5 grams per day. .

Reeves, a Republican serving for the first term, said the limit alone would result in "hundreds of millions fewer joints in the streets" than the original, more permissive version of the bill. The new law is effective immediately.

Under this, a person can legally obtain medical marijuana only if diagnosed with one of about two dozen eligible conditions, including cancer, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer's, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe injury.

It also allows cannabis to be prescribed for pain conditions where the cause of the pain cannot be eliminated or treated, and where it is not possible to eliminate or cure the cause of the pain."

Written certification must be provided by a licensed healthcare professional, with whom the patient has a bona fide relationship and the law requires an in-person visit to the office to obtain it.

Only doctors can prescribe for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25, and parental consent is also required for minors.

Mississippi voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot act to establish a medical marijuana program in November 2020. But it was later overturned when the state's Supreme Court, overturned the entire process of the state's voting initiative.

According to the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), Mississippi is the 37th state out of 50 states to allow some form of medical marijuana programs, although marijuana remains classified as an illegal narcotic under United States federal law.

As of November, 18 states and the District of Columbia had enacted measures to regulate marijuana for non-medical use by adults, the NCSL said.