An effort to rid Mississippi of unregulated and untested intoxicating hemp products currently sold mostly in convenience store has barely passed through the Senate.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed House Bill 1502, a piece of legislation that bans the sale and ownership of intoxicating hemp, which is a type of hemp with derivative forms of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis.
However, some hemp beverages with low amounts of THC would still be allowed to be sold in convenience stores or grocery stores to those who are 21 years of age or older.
The bill would also designate the Mississippi State Department of Health to regulate traditional consumable hemp products, commonly known as CBD, in Mississippi.
Sen. Kavin Blackwell, R-Southaven, who has spearheaded hemp reform, told the Clarion Ledger the bill is likely now headed to conference and then back to both the House and Senate for a final round of voting.
“I think everybody’s good for getting these products out of (the stores),” Blackwell said.
He will have a somewhat uphill battle in the Senate, seeing as the bill faced fierce opposition on Tuesday when it passed, and Wednesday when opposing lawmakers attempted to hold the bill on a motion to reconsider, a strategy to keep legislation from advancing.
Sen. Daniel Sparks, R-Belmont and Angela Hill, R-Picayune, both spoke against the bill, and specifically spoke on how the bill allows intoxicating hemp beverages to be sold outside of dispensaries.
“It is cannabis,” Sparks said somewhat theatrically to the Senate on Tuesday.
Blackwell said he is confident despite the opposition that the legislation will make the cut this session.
“The hemp beverages are legal,” Blackwell said. “They’re federally legal now, and I need to do a better job of explaining that. … It’s a complicated subject. It’s just going to require a little bit more education to the members. When we do sit down with them, one on one, go through it, they usually come out fine (with it).”
The bill is the last remaining of several hemp-related pieces of legislation still alive in the legislature. In 2024, lawmakers attempted to ban intoxicating hemp, but the effort stalled late in the 2024 session.
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.
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.”
Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
