SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — Mississippians can now go online and apply for a medical marijuana card if they qualify under a number of conditions.
Online registration for all types of medical cannabis licensing started Wednesday.
READ MORE: Mississippi medical marijuana card application process opens June 1
Christine Loftin of Southaven told FOX13 that medical marijuana would make a big difference in her son’s life.
On a good day, 17-year-old Bryan Loftin is like other kids. He rides his bike. He hangs out with friends. He is full of energy.
Wednesday was not a good day. Hundreds of seizures from mitochondrial disease racked his body. He couldn’t get off the couch.
“The seizures are our main concern, and we are looking forward to finally getting him the medication, and that will impact his quality of life in a positive way,” Christine Loftin said.
Bryan’s mom hopes that relief comes in the form of medical marijuana. She said she would be applying for a medical marijuana card for him as a patient and for her as the caregiver.
”As a mom of a child who has special needs and those who has seizures, it’s a chronic stress. Even when it is a good day, I am wondering when is the next seizure going to be,” Loftin said.
Last fall, we first met the Loftins when Christine took Bryan to a restaurant where Gov. Tate Reeves was eating. She wanted the governor to see someone who could benefit from medical marijuana.
Loftin told FOX13 that she thinks medical marijuana could impact every aspect of her son’s life, including his education.
”If Bryan is not having seizures, that’s going to impact his ability to pay more attention in school, and he will learn more and have more success,” Loftin said.
Loftin said that it would also stop many of the injuries that her son has suffered from the seizures.
If you are getting online to get your medical marijuana card in Mississippi, there are some things you need to be aware of.
“Today is the first day I have had a chance to look at the website, and it is a little non-user friendly,” Loftin said.
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She noticed that the process for getting a card is not something you can complete fully on the first day.
“I don’t want to deter anyone from getting approved, but the providers have to be approved, and they didn’t apply until today,” Loftin said.
According to the state, it could take up to 30 days for a provider’s license to be approved to recommend medical marijuana as a treatment.
“After that, you need to have a visit with the provider to get your personal license for use as a patient,” Loftin said.
Then you will have to go back online and submit that information to the state and wait up to five days to be approved.
Zack Wilson is building a grow facility and a dispensary in Marshall County. He applied for a cultivation license Wednesday, but he can’t apply to open a dispensary until July first.
Wilson, a leader of a grassroots organization to legalize medical marijuana in Mississippi, said it would likely be months before he can start selling to patients.
“It would be possible for us to open the first of October if the state stays on a normal timeline. I am expecting November, maybe December,” Wilson said.
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