Mississippi’s Department of Health has announced a proposal for a vigorous change to its medical cannabis market’s regulations.

Mississippi legalised medical cannabis in February 2022, seeing nearly $15.7 million in sales since the programme’s launch.

The proposed rule changes focus on rules that need to be adhered to by practitioners and patients, as well as changes to wording.

Updates include information on how patients can renew medical cannabis cards, along with what kind of ID must be submitted with card applications, as well as information on how non-residents can obtain a card in the state.

Additionally, a section on advertising has now been included which prevents registered practitioners from publishing advertising that contains false or misleading statements about medical cannabis or the medical cannabis programme, uses colloquial terms such as “weed”, includes images of the plant, or contains medical symbols that could be confused for established medical organisations.

They will also be prohibited from advertising on television, radio, social media and other forms of communication such as text messages or mass emails.

Changes have also been made to rules surrounding licencing.

For example, anyone planning to submit an application for a licence, an operating plan must include the applicant’s organisation chart, job descriptions and minimum qualifications for each position, an explanation of whether the applicant has experience operating businesses in highly-regulated industries, an employee training plan and the hours of operation.

Furthermore, names and other required information would have to be provided for all individuals persons, entities or affiliated entities who directly or indirectly own 10% or more of the medical cannabis establishment applicant, among other changes.

To read the full rules, please visit: https://www.mmcp.ms.gov/sites/default/files/Documents/AdministrativeRegulationsMMCP08172023.pdf

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