- Mississippi lawmakers are considering two bills that would ban intoxicating hemp products.
- Opponents of the ban argue that hemp-derived products provide a legal and accessible alternative to medical marijuana.
- The House bill would regulate hemp products and the Senate bill would make them a schedule one drug.
Separate pieces of legislation to ban intoxicating hemp products in Mississippi have passed both the House and Senate and will now be mulled over in the other chamber.
By the legislative deadline to pass bills out of the chamber they were filed in, the House passed House Bill 1502, which would ban the currently unregulated sale of THC-derivative hemp products such as Delta 8, which is derived from hemp.
Specifically, it would ban hemp products from having anymore than 0.3% of any type of THC derived from hemp, ban the sale of synthetic hemps such as Delta 8 THC and also require all hemp products be sold to people who are at least 21 years old. Hemp beverages would be excluded from the ban and actually codified into state law
The bill would also designate the Mississippi State Department of Health to regulate hemp products in Mississippi.
Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, told the Clarion Ledger the bill was attempted last year but died in the Senate. At its core, the intent is to remove what he called dangerous products that are unregulated and untested from convenience stores throughout Mississippi where they are currently being sold.
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“Currently we have a recreational marijuana program in our gas stations,” Yancey said. “Most people don’t realize that, but you can get much higher there than you can in a medical cannabis dispensary. So those products have been bought and tested and have improved to contain more THC, much more THC than what is allowed in the medical cannabis program. We know something needs to be done.”
Yancey also said legal hemp beverages would be allowed under the bill, but they could have no more than 5 milligrams of THC and would be sold only to those 21 and up.
The Senate legislation, Senate Bill 2314, which passed out of the chamber on Feb. 6, would make intoxicating hemp products in Mississippi a schedule one drug.
For the past several years as the state’s medical cannabis industry has sprouted and grown, legal medical cannabis business owners, lobbying groups and health advocates have been pushing to remove hemp-based THC products from shelves in CBD stores, gas stations and other convenience stores.
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There was even a press conference held in Jackson last year to educate the public about the dangers and lack of oversight over the products. During that event, one presentation showed several convenience stores in the state had been selling what cannabis labs tested as higher potency THC products than what was available in dispensaries.
“This is a very serious public safety concern that needs to be addressed,” said William Chism, a cannabis cultivator and Mississippi Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association spokesperson. “Unlike medical cannabis, which is very tightly regulated, these hemp derived products are in many cases, unlabeled or misleadingly labeled, people don’t always know what they’re getting.”
Efforts to pass legislation to ban hemp-based THC products in the 2024 session stalled in the Senate.
While Chism said the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association does not take a public stance on this hemp legislation, the organization did publicly support these same efforts last year.
“We are an organization that’s focused upon accessibility to safe products, and we are supportive of any legislation that creates improved safety outcomes for patients and people who want access to these products in the appropriate avenues,” Chism said.
Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
