- The Jackson City Council is considering an ordinance to increase medical marijuana business license fees from $40 to $1,000.
- The proposed increase aims to align Jackson’s fees with other Mississippi municipalities, which charge around $2,500.
- The move comes as Mississippi’s medical marijuana industry continues to grow since its legalization in 2022.
An ordinance that would increase the amount of revenue the City of Jackson receives from medical marijuana business licenses was introduced Tuesday during a meeting of the Jackson City Council.
Currently, to receive a medical marijuana business license in Jackson the city charges “approximately $40,” according to Yika Hoover, the city’s deputy director of economic development who spoke about the ordinance to the council. The first medical marijuana dispensary opened in Jackson in 2023.
The proposed ordinance would change the cost from $40 to $1,000 per business. The new price would still be lower than surrounding municipalities, Hoover said, which charge “about $2,500 per medical cannabis business.”
According to the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program, there are 36 medical marijuana-related businesses in Hinds County, though it doesn’t say which of those are located in Jackson. Those businesses include 20 dispensaries, four processing facilities, nine cultivator facilities, two transportation companies and one disposal company.
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“This is just an attempt for us to license medical cannabis businesses in the same fashion as the state of Mississippi and other municipalities in the state,” Hoover said.
Proposed ordinances must first be introduced at a council meeting, then the council will officially vote on the ordinance at a following meeting. If everything goes to plan, Tuesday’s proposed ordinance would be voted on at the council’s next meeting on March 11.
In 2022, the Mississippi Legislature passed a bill to create a medical marijuana program, and Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the bill on Feb. 2 of that year, making Mississippi the 37th state to legalize cannabis.
The legislation directed the Mississippi State Department of Health and Mississippi Department of Revenue to oversee various aspects of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Program.
Recreational use of marijuana is not yet legal in Mississippi, though it is legal in 24 states.
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More recently, the Legislature has been considering two bills that would ban intoxicating hemp products. 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.
