A Special Session Call was Made, Legislative Leaders Requested Medical Marijuana be Included

BY: Chronic Staff | Recent News | October 17, 2021

Jackson, Miss. (WLBT) - The only person who has the power to call a special session is the governor. The governor has full control over what lawmakers can take up when they reach the Capitol.

The legislative leaders expressed that if they are called back, the call needs to include more than medical marijuana.

There are drafts regarding the medical marijuana bill but will require state agencies to stand up a medical cannabis program within 60 days of passage. Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hoseman said they are ready. In addition, he said that they have a very structured way to do it as it is medical marijuana and not recreational. He emphasized that they made sure it is medical marijuana as they are very strict in the process like how it is going to be grown, how it will be checked, and distributions including taxes.

The pandemic, the COVID crisis, is the reason they think that there are some urgent needs to handle if called back for a special session. One of them would be a front-line retention program using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money to keep hospital workers from leaving. They would direct some of the federal money to the state’s child abuse and domestic violence shelter programs that are short due to COVID.

Also, legislative leaders want to change the adjusted wording in the state law to allow first responder’s families the ability to receive death benefits if they die due to COVID-19. Speaker Philip Gunn and Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann expect that they can handle these issues in one day. They’d want to make it happen next Friday. The time and specifics of the special session are not yet determined and shall be decided upon by the governor, who has indicated what he plans to do.