MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) – People in Meridian had an opportunity Thursday night to become informed about how to get certified for medical marijuana.
We take an inside look at the process as the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association also known as 3MA hosted an informational event.
“Angie Calhoun is the Founder and CEO of Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance. Calhoun started MCPA after a disease hit close to home.
“My son suffers from a debilitating medical condition and I saw almost 10 years ago the quality of life that medical cannabis gave to him. That’s what I want for every patient to have that alternative medicine and the option to be able to choose medical cannabis over a pharmaceutical drug. Because there are often times when pharmaceutical drugs cause more health issues and you have to treat one medicine with another medicine,” said Founder and CEO of Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance, Angie Calhoun.
Dr. Kirk Kinard practices in Oxford and has worked in pain management since 2008.
He said medical marijuana will be a good therapeutic medication option for many patients suffering from chronic debilitating conditions.
“As long as it is conducted as it appears that it will then the difference in medical marijuana is that it goes does go under that high scrutiny and level and expectation almost like a pharmaceutical grade expectation so if I refer a patient for this treatment and certify them I can trust they can go and get a safe product they can rely on,” said Physician and Founder of Paus Pain and wellness Medical Clinics, Dr. Kirk Kinard.
Under Mississippi’s state law, there are about 22 debilitating conditions a patient can be certified for so what are the steps to take when registering for your patient certification?
“Patients do need to know and understand that only a Mississippi Department of Health approved practitioner can certify for medical cannabis and a lot of patients think that just any doctor they’re going to can do it and that’s just not the case. And of course, the next step is that they have to go to the Department of Health website to fill out an application and register for an ID card, and then there’s a little bit of a wait time of about 30 days to find out if they’re approved,” said Calhoun.
Southern Crop, the first entity licensed for cultivation and processing of medical marijuana in Mississippi shares what you can expect when walking into a dispensary.
“You’re walking in with professionals who know what they’re talking about about the products. You’re going to have to present a state medical card issued here in the state which you have to go through a physician first to actually get your medical card recommendation and then there’s a process through the state and then you have to present that with a state license being over 21 years old to actually come in to get your medication,” said Southern Crop VP of sales, Alec Pagliaro.
There are just over 1100 patients that have been approved for a medical cannabis card in Mississippi.
You can sign up to schedule an appointment with a local clinic at www.medicalmarijuanams.com
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