A Mississippi bill making targeted changes to the state’s medical marijuana program has been sent to Governor Tate Reeves, but not with one of its most notable provisions intact.
House Bill 895 was originally passed by the House with language that would have doubled the validity period for a patient’s medical marijuana card from 12 months to 24 months. That change was removed by the Senate, and the House has now agreed to that revision, leaving the current 12-month renewal requirement in place for patients.
The final version of the bill would still make an adjustment for caregivers. Rather than requiring follow-up background checks every year, designated caregivers would need to complete them every two years. The House had initially backed a longer extension, but the Senate scaled that back before sending the measure back for concurrence.
The legislation also keeps in place the existing requirement for patients to have a follow-up visit with their medical practitioner every six months. According to comments made on the House floor, practitioners would still have some discretion in deciding whether that timeline should be shorter or longer depending on the circumstances.
The bill is now headed to Governor Reeves for consideration after both chambers signed off on the same version. While the measure would still make a modest change to how caregiver eligibility is maintained, it would not extend patient card validity as originally proposed by the House.
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