Mississippi overwhelmingly votes to legalize medical marijuana with Initiative 65

Medical marijuana is coming to Mississippi under Initiative 65, the more-expansive and detailed option voters considered.

About two-thirds of voters said they wanted to allow a medical marijuana program. And about 75%of respondents chose Initiative 65, the measure that qualified for the ballot earlier this year on the strength of citizen signatures.

The Associated Press called the race just after midnight.

The outcome means Mississippians with debilitating medical conditions will be able to get medical marijuana with a doctor’s approval. Initiative 65 requires the medical marijuana program to be running by August 2021.

It represents a major victory for the group Mississippians for Compassionate Care, which raised and spent millions of dollars to collect signatures to get Initiative 65 on the ballot and then to campaign for it around the state.

“I speak on behalf of my entire team when I say we want to give God the glory and praise for this victory,” said Jamie Grantham, Mississippians for Compassionate Care Communications director. “He started this. He made this amazing plant that is helping so many people across the country.”

The outcome is a defeat for the state legislators who passed a competing measure, Initiative 65A, that would have created a medical marijuana program under far less specific rules. Critics said 65A was an attempt to confuse voters and scuttle the possibility of medical marijuana in Mississippi.

In the two-part voting process, voters first had to say whether they wanted to allow medical marijuana. Then, they had to choose between Initiative 65, which qualified for the ballot on the strength of citizen signatures, or the Legislature’s alternative Initiative 65A.

Mississippi becomes the fourth southern state to have a medical marijuana program, following Florida, Arkansas and Louisiana. Across the country, 33 states and the District of Columbia already legalize medical marijuana.

To pass, a constitutional amendment must receive support from at least 50% of the people who vote for and against it, as well as at least 40% of people who vote in the election.

A hard-fought race

Over the last few months, opponents of medical marijuana painted an increasingly dire portrait of Mississippi under Initiative 65.

One critic was State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs.

“I am concerned that the way this is written is going to be way too open,” he said at a public hearing in Jackson last month. “It’s a little bit terrifying that we’re gonna enshrine rules written by the marijuana industry.”

Mississippi Board of Health member Ed Langton went on a tour around the state, speaking with local elected officials and law enforcement about the dangers of Initiative 65. In Pascagoula, he warned that “parents who smoke dope” could end up giving it to their kids.

“The products can be smoking it, vaping it, gummies, brownies,” he said.

Former Gov. Phil Bryant, Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes, and U.S. Rep Steven Palazzo all came out against Initiative 65.

If it passed, Palazzo warned in an op-ed, “our way of life will be put in jeopardy.”

“Big Ganja is capitalizing upon heartbreak,” Hewes cautioned.

But recent polls of Mississippians showed strong support for at least the concept of legalizing marijuana for medical uses. One survey this year showed 81% of Mississippians said they favored medical marijuana; another poll from 2019 showed support at 67%.

The support held among different racial and political affiliation groups, and many of the backers of Medical Marijuana 2020 touted their Republican credentials.

What did voters say?

On Election Day, plenty of Coast voters were energized by the medical marijuana push.

Waiting in line at his polling place in Jackson County, 23-year-old Kaleb Nailer said Initiative 65 was the ballot item he was most excited to vote for.

“It’ll just give Mississippi the opportunity to expand medical uses and tax revenue,” he said. “In Colorado and other states, there are plenty of benefits, and I think it’s great that Mississippi has the opportunity to take advantage of some of these benefits.”

Bill Magnus, 55, said he thought medical marijuana might help him with some of his health conditions.

“I thin the old guard, because it’s been illegal for so long, is opposing it,” he said. “But it grows naturally.”