State Representative Lee Yancey presents in the well of the House, Wednesday, March 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune)
- Caregiver background checks will now be required every two years instead of annually.
Both chambers in the Mississippi Legislature have agreed to minor changes to the state’s medical cannabis program this session.
The House concurred with the Senate’s changes to HB 895 this week.
Under the amended provisions, the time of validity of a patient’s medical cannabis card will remain at 12 months, but the time a caregiver needs to undergo a follow-up background check was extended slightly.
HB 895 in its original form would have extended the validity of a patient’s medical cannabis card from a year to 24 months. However, the Senate did not agree with that change.
“We had moved `the validity of the card from 12 to 24 months, and they wanted to move it back to 12 months,” Yancey explained on the House floor after making a motion to concur with the Senate’s changes.
Originally, the bill also wanted to extend the time required for a caregiver to undergo a subsequent background check to keep their license valid. That license allows caregivers to fill prescriptions of their patients who hold valid medical cannabis cards. Currently, those background checks are required annually. The House proposed extending that period up to five years, but the Senate changed it to two years.
The bill maintains the existing mandatory six-month follow-up visit with the patient’s medical practitioner, but Yancey said the practitioner still has discretion to shorten or extend that time.
The measure now heads to the governor’s desk.
