Four bills filed today in the Mississippi House would make significant changes to the state’s medical marijuana laws, addressing potency limits, patient certification rules, hospital access, and how marijuana is classified under state law.
Two of the bills were filed by Representative Lee Yancey (R). House Bill 894 would remove existing THC potency limits for marijuana concentrates sold through Mississippi’s medical program. Current law places caps on the amount of THC allowed in certain products, a restriction that some patients and physicians have argued can interfere with effective dosing, particularly for those with severe or treatment-resistant conditions. If enacted, the bill would allow concentrates to be regulated without a fixed THC ceiling, while leaving other aspects of the program intact.
Yancey also filed House Bill 895, which would reduce ongoing requirements for medical marijuana patients by eliminating mandatory follow-up visits and extending the validity of both physician certifications and patient identification cards to 24 months. Under current law, patients must renew their certification and card annually. Supporters of the change argue that longer validity periods would lower costs and administrative burdens for patients with chronic or permanent qualifying conditions, while still preserving physician oversight at the initial certification stage.
A third proposal, House Bill 1034, was filed by Representative Kevin Felsher (R) and would allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana while admitted to hospitals. Mississippi law currently does not clearly allow the use of medical marijuana in hospital settings, leaving some patients unable to access their medication during inpatient care. The bill is aimed at addressing that gap by explicitly permitting use for terminally ill individuals, subject to hospital policies and applicable regulations.
The fourth bill, House Bill 865, was introduced by Representative Omeria Scott (D) and would remove marijuana from Schedule I of Mississippi’s Uniform Controlled Substances Law and reclassify it as a Schedule III substance. Schedule I substances are defined as having no accepted medical use under state law, a designation that has long been criticized as inconsistent with Mississippi’s voter-approved medical marijuana program. Moving marijuana to Schedule III would formally recognize its medical use in statute while keeping it regulated under state controlled substance laws, and would align it with an incoming federal change in cannabis’ scheduling status.
House Bill 894 and House Bill 895 have been assigned to the House Business and Commerce Committee. House Bill 1034 was referred to the House Public Health and Human Services Committee, while House Bill 865 was referred to the House Government Drug Policy Committee.
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