Recreational marijuana remains illegal in Mississippi, but the state has a comprehensive medical marijuana program allowing registered patients with qualifying conditions to purchase flower, concentrates and other products from licensed dispensaries.
Mississippi has also reduced penalties for possession of small amounts of recreational marijuana. A first offense involving 30 grams or less is punishable by a fine of $100 to $250, with no jail sentence specified for the first offense. Repeat possession offenses and possession of larger amounts carry increasingly serious penalties.
Mississippi lawmakers enacted the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in 2022, and licensed medical marijuana sales began in 2023. The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program is overseen primarily by the Mississippi State Department of Health, while the Department of Revenue licenses dispensaries.
This page covers Mississippi marijuana possession laws, penalties, medical marijuana, qualifying conditions, dispensaries, home cultivation, taxes and other major rules. For laws in other states, visit The Marijuana Herald’s Marijuana Laws by State guide.
Last updated: September 13, 2026
Mississippi Marijuana Laws at a Glance
| Law | Current Rule |
|---|---|
| Recreational marijuana | Illegal |
| Recreational possession limit | None |
| 30 grams or less, first offense | $100 to $250 fine |
| Medical marijuana | Legal for registered patients |
| Medical dispensaries | Legal and operational |
| Medical home cultivation | Illegal |
| Resident medical purchase limit | 24 MMCEUs per rolling 30 days |
| Resident medical possession limit | 28 MMCEUs |
| Medical flower | Legal |
| Flower potency limit | 30% total THC |
| Tincture, oil and concentrate potency limit | 60% total THC |
| Medical marijuana delivery | Generally prohibited |
| Dispensary sales tax | 7% |
| Recreational sales | Illegal |
Is Recreational Marijuana Legal in Mississippi?
No. Recreational marijuana is illegal in Mississippi.
Adults do not have a legal recreational possession allowance regardless of age. Possession of marijuana outside the protections of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act remains prohibited.
However, Mississippi treats a first offense involving 30 grams or less significantly less severely than possession in many prohibition states. The first offense carries a fine of $100 to $250 rather than incarceration.
Recreational marijuana stores are not legal, and Mississippi does not have a licensed adult-use marijuana market.
How Much Recreational Marijuana Can You Legally Possess in Mississippi?
There is no legal recreational marijuana possession amount in Mississippi.
Possession of 30 grams or less remains unlawful, even though the penalty for a first offense is limited to a fine.
Registered medical marijuana patients are treated separately and may legally possess marijuana within the limits of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program.
What Are the Penalties for Illegal Marijuana Possession in Mississippi?
Mississippi uses graduated penalties based on the amount possessed and, for small amounts, the number of recent convictions.
| Possession | Penalty |
|---|---|
| 30 grams or less, first offense | Fine of $100 to $250 |
| 30 grams or less, second conviction within 2 years | $250 fine, up to 60 days in county jail and mandatory drug education unless waived by the court |
| 30 grams or less, third or subsequent conviction within 2 years | $250 to $1,000 fine and up to 6 months in county jail |
| More than 30 grams but less than 250 grams | Potential jail or prison sentence of up to 3 years and fine of up to $3,000 |
| 250 grams to less than 500 grams | 2 to 8 years and up to a $50,000 fine |
| 500 grams to less than 1 kilogram | 4 to 16 years and up to a $250,000 fine |
| 1 kilogram to less than 5 kilograms | 6 to 24 years and up to a $500,000 fine |
| 5 kilograms or more | 10 to 30 years and up to a $1 million fine |
For a first or second conviction involving 30 grams or less, Mississippi law requires the conviction record maintained by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to remain private and nonpublic and provides for its removal after two years.
Different and potentially much more serious penalties apply to selling marijuana, possessing marijuana with intent to distribute or trafficking marijuana.
Has Mississippi Decriminalized Marijuana?
Mississippi has partially reduced criminal penalties for small amounts, but marijuana has not been legalized.
A first possession offense involving 30 grams or less carries only a $100 to $250 fine and may be handled through a summons when the person provides satisfactory identification and agrees to appear in court.
A second or subsequent offense within two years can result in incarceration.
For that reason, Mississippi is sometimes described as having decriminalized first-time possession of a small amount, but possession remains prohibited under state law.
Are There Special Rules for Marijuana in a Vehicle?
Yes.
A person operating a motor vehicle who possesses more than 1 gram but no more than 30 grams of marijuana in the area normally occupied by the driver or passengers commits a misdemeanor.
The offense can result in:
- Up to a $1,000 fine
- Up to 90 days in county jail
- Or both
The passenger-area restriction does not include a vehicle’s trunk or another area not normally occupied by the driver or passengers when the vehicle does not have a trunk. A glove compartment is considered part of the passenger area.
Driving while impaired by marijuana is also illegal.
Is Medical Marijuana Legal in Mississippi?
Yes.
Mississippi enacted the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in February 2022, creating a regulated system for qualifying patients, caregivers, cultivators, processors, testing facilities and dispensaries.
Patients must be certified by a medical professional registered with the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program and obtain a registry identification card from the Mississippi State Department of Health before purchasing medical marijuana.
Licensed medical dispensaries are operating throughout the state. The state’s business database currently includes hundreds of licensed marijuana establishments across multiple business categories.
What Conditions Qualify for Medical Marijuana in Mississippi?
Mississippi specifically recognizes the following conditions or their treatment:
- Cancer
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
- Muscular dystrophy
- Glaucoma
- Spastic quadriplegia
- HIV
- AIDS
- Hepatitis
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Crohn’s disease
- Ulcerative colitis
- Sickle-cell anemia
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Agitation of dementia
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Autism
- Pain refractory to appropriate opioid management
- Diabetic or peripheral neuropathy
- Spinal cord disease or severe spinal cord injury
A chronic terminal or debilitating disease or medical condition may also qualify when the condition or its treatment produces:
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Chronic pain
- Severe or intractable nausea
- Seizures
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
Mississippi residents may petition the Department of Health to add additional serious medical conditions or treatments to the qualifying list.
How Much Medical Marijuana Can Patients Buy in Mississippi?
Mississippi measures medical marijuana using Mississippi Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units, or MMCEUs.
One MMCEU equals:
- 3.5 grams of marijuana flower
- 1 gram of marijuana concentrate
- 100 milligrams of THC in an infused product
A resident medical marijuana cardholder may purchase no more than 24 MMCEUs during a rolling 30-day period.
If a patient used the entire allowance on one product category, 24 MMCEUs would equal:
- 84 grams of flower
- 24 grams of concentrate
- 2,400 milligrams of THC in infused products
Patients may purchase combinations of different product types, with the state’s tracking system converting each purchase into the appropriate MMCEU amount.
Mississippi eliminated the former separate seven-day purchase cap in July 2024, leaving the rolling 30-day limit as the primary resident purchase restriction.
How Much Medical Marijuana Can a Patient Possess?
A Mississippi resident cardholder may possess up to 28 MMCEUs of medical marijuana.
That is equivalent, if the entire possession consisted of a single product type, to:
- 98 grams of flower
- 28 grams of concentrate
- 2,800 milligrams of THC in infused products
The equivalents can also be divided among different types of medical marijuana products.
Possessing more than the authorized medical amount is not protected by the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act.
What Types of Medical Marijuana Are Legal in Mississippi?
Mississippi’s medical marijuana program allows a range of products, including:
- Marijuana flower
- Concentrates
- Tinctures
- Oils
- Edible marijuana products
- Topical products
- Other approved marijuana preparations
Products must be produced, tested and packaged within Mississippi’s regulated medical system.
Medical marijuana flower and trim may contain no more than 30% total THC.
Tinctures, oils and concentrates may contain no more than 60% total THC.
Products containing more than 30% total THC must carry an “extremely potent” label.
Can Medical Marijuana Patients Grow Marijuana at Home in Mississippi?
No.
Mississippi does not authorize home cultivation by registered medical marijuana patients or caregivers.
Marijuana used in the state’s medical program must come through licensed Mississippi cultivation, processing and retail businesses. State regulations require licensed establishments to purchase, grow, cultivate and use marijuana grown within Mississippi’s regulated system.
There is therefore no legal personal plant allowance for either medical patients or recreational consumers.
Growing marijuana outside the licensed system can expose a person to criminal penalties under Mississippi’s controlled-substance laws.
What Are the Benefits of a Mississippi Medical Marijuana Card?
A Mississippi medical marijuana card provides several substantial benefits compared with ordinary recreational possession, which remains illegal.
Registered patients may:
- Legally purchase marijuana from licensed Mississippi dispensaries
- Possess up to 28 MMCEUs
- Purchase up to 24 MMCEUs during a rolling 30-day period
- Purchase marijuana flower, concentrates, edibles and other regulated products
- Receive legal protections from Mississippi’s ordinary marijuana possession law when complying with the medical program
- Designate an eligible caregiver when applicable
The program does not provide home cultivation rights.
Medical marijuana is also not tax-free. Mississippi dispensaries charge the state’s standard 7% sales tax to cardholders.
Does Mississippi Accept Out-of-State Medical Marijuana Cards?
Mississippi allows qualifying nonresidents to obtain temporary access to its medical marijuana program, but an out-of-state card alone is not enough to immediately purchase marijuana.
A nonresident must:
- Medically qualify
- Have an active medical marijuana identification card or equivalent credential from the person’s home state
- Apply to Mississippi’s program
Applications may be submitted up to 30 days before the person arrives in Mississippi. A nonresident Mississippi medical marijuana card is valid for 15 days.
Nonresident cardholders may purchase up to six MMCEUs per week and no more than 12 MMCEUs during a consecutive 15-day period.
Their possession limit is 14 MMCEUs.
Can Tourists Buy Recreational Marijuana in Mississippi?
No.
Mississippi has no recreational marijuana market. Tourists who are simply 21 or older cannot legally purchase marijuana.
A qualifying out-of-state medical marijuana patient may apply for Mississippi’s temporary nonresident card and, if approved, purchase medical marijuana from licensed dispensaries within the applicable limits.
Can You Bring Medical Marijuana Into Mississippi From Another State?
No.
Mississippi’s medical program does not authorize interstate transportation of marijuana.
The state requires medical marijuana businesses to use marijuana grown and processed through Mississippi’s regulated system, and marijuana produced in Mississippi’s medical program cannot be transported outside the state.
Qualifying visitors should obtain a temporary Mississippi card and purchase marijuana from a licensed Mississippi dispensary rather than bringing marijuana across a state line.
Can Medical Marijuana Be Delivered in Mississippi?
Generally no.
Mississippi law requires medical marijuana dispensaries to make sales to cardholders inside the dispensary.
Dispensaries cannot provide marijuana through:
- Drive-through service
- Curbside delivery
- Home delivery
- Other sales outside the licensed dispensary premises
Patients or their authorized caregivers therefore generally must enter a licensed dispensary to complete a medical marijuana purchase.
Can You Smoke Marijuana in Public in Mississippi?
No.
The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act does not authorize smoking medical marijuana in a public place or in a motor vehicle.
For this restriction, “smoking” includes vaping and other methods of inhaling medical marijuana.
Mississippi broadly defines a public place to include locations open to the general public as well as government-controlled areas such as streets, sidewalks and public transportation. A private residential dwelling is excluded from that definition.
Recreational marijuana use remains illegal regardless of where it occurs.
Can You Drive After Using Medical Marijuana?
No.
Medical marijuana patient status does not authorize driving while impaired.
Mississippi’s Medical Cannabis Act specifically preserves penalties for operating or being in physical control of a motor vehicle, aircraft, train, boat or other conveyance when doing so violates the state’s impaired-driving laws as a result of marijuana use.
The law also prohibits smoking or vaping medical marijuana inside a motor vehicle.
Are Medical Marijuana Patients Protected at Work?
Mississippi provides relatively limited employment protections for medical marijuana patients.
The Medical Cannabis Act does not require employers to allow medical marijuana use or change workplace conditions to accommodate it.
The law also does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire, firing, disciplining or taking another employment action because of an individual’s medical marijuana use, even when the person is a registered patient.
Patients should therefore not assume that a medical marijuana card protects them from workplace drug policies or testing.
How Is Medical Marijuana Taxed in Mississippi?
Medical marijuana purchased from a licensed dispensary is subject to Mississippi’s standard 7% sales tax.
Mississippi also imposes a 5% excise tax on the first sale or transfer of marijuana flower or trim from a licensed cultivation facility to another medical marijuana establishment. That 5% levy occurs earlier in the supply chain rather than being imposed directly on the patient as a separate checkout tax.
The Department of Revenue notes that dispensaries in Jackson and Tupelo may also be responsible for special local tax levies.
What Changed With Mississippi Marijuana Laws in 2026?
Mississippi lawmakers considered a significant change to the medical marijuana program in 2026, but the proposal did not become law.
House Bill 895 would have:
- Eliminated the mandatory six-month patient follow-up evaluation
- Extended resident caregiver cards from one year to two years
- Removed the 60% THC potency limit for marijuana tinctures, oils and concentrates
The Legislature sent the proposal to Gov. Tate Reeves, but Reeves vetoed it in March. In his veto message, the governor specifically defended the six-month follow-up requirement, annual caregiver review and 60% concentrate potency limit as safeguards in the state’s medical marijuana system.
As a result, those existing requirements remain part of Mississippi’s program in September 2026. The state’s current regulations continue to cap marijuana flower and trim at 30% total THC and tinctures, oils and concentrates at 60%.
The Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program has also added a real-time allotment checker that allows registered patients to see their remaining flower, infused-product and concentrate purchase allowances through the licensing portal.
Are THCA, Delta-8 and Hemp-Derived THC Legal in Mississippi?
Mississippi allows hemp and hemp-derived products that meet the state’s legal definition of hemp. The state generally requires hemp to contain no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC on a dry-weight basis and calculates that amount using both delta-9 THC and the THC that can be produced from THCA. (Mississippi Code § 69-25-203)
Because THCA is included in that calculation, high-THCA flower generally does not qualify as legal hemp when its total potential THC exceeds 0.3%. Hemp and qualifying hemp products are exempt from Mississippi’s Schedule I restrictions on tetrahydrocannabinols, which can include hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 when the product remains within the hemp exemption. Products that do not qualify as hemp may instead be treated as controlled substances or, for registered patients, regulated under Mississippi’s separate medical marijuana program.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mississippi Marijuana Laws
Is recreational marijuana legal in Mississippi?
No. Recreational marijuana remains illegal in Mississippi.
How much recreational marijuana can you possess in Mississippi?
There is no legal recreational possession amount. A first offense involving 30 grams or less is punishable by a $100 to $250 fine.
Is marijuana decriminalized in Mississippi?
A first offense involving 30 grams or less carries only a fine, but possession remains illegal. Repeat offenses can result in jail time.
Is medical marijuana legal in Mississippi?
Yes. Registered patients with qualifying conditions may legally purchase and possess marijuana through the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program.
How much medical marijuana can patients buy?
Resident cardholders may purchase up to 24 MMCEUs during a rolling 30-day period.
How much medical marijuana can patients possess?
Resident cardholders may possess up to 28 MMCEUs.
How much is one Mississippi Medical Cannabis Equivalency Unit?
One MMCEU equals 3.5 grams of marijuana flower, 1 gram of concentrate or 100 milligrams of THC in an infused product.
Can medical marijuana patients grow plants in Mississippi?
No. Mississippi does not allow patients or caregivers to grow marijuana at home.
Can out-of-state medical marijuana patients buy marijuana in Mississippi?
Yes, but they must first obtain a temporary Mississippi nonresident medical marijuana card. The card is generally valid for 15 days.
Is medical marijuana delivery legal in Mississippi?
No. Dispensaries generally must complete sales inside their licensed premises and cannot use drive-through, curbside or home delivery.
Official Sources
Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program
Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program: Patients and Caregivers
Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program: Qualifying Medical Conditions
Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program: Frequently Asked Questions
Mississippi Department of Revenue: Medical Cannabis Taxation
Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure: Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act
