Mississippi: Proponents Turn In Signatures for 2020 Medical Cannabis Ballot Measure

Originally published at blog.NORML.org

Proponents of a 2020 statewide ballot measure to legalize and regulate medical cannabis access have submitted 105,686 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office.

To qualify for the November 2020 ballot, advocates must collect 86,185 certified signatures, with at least 17,237 certified signatures from each of the state’s five congressional districts. According to local news reports, proponents actually collected more than 214,000 total signatures, with 105,000 having been certified by local clerks.

The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to permit qualified patients to obtain medical cannabis products at state-licensed facilities.

A spokesperson for the group backing the campaign, Mississippians for Compassionate Care, said that the measure “polls above 77 percent, with [majority support from] every age group, religious affiliation, [and] political affiliation.”

Under Mississippi law, the possession of cannabis for medical purposes is illegal except for the use of certain CBD extracts in patients with pediatric epilepsy.

Thirty-three states currently permit access to plant-derived medical cannabis.

For more information on the campaign, visit the website: https://www.medicalmarijuana2020.com/.