A funny thing happened after Mississippi’s medical marijuana program began operations in 2023. Nothing.
The streets weren’t filled with weed-addled criminals going from schoolyard to schoolyard peddling marijuana to children. The crime rate didn’t soar and Mississippi did not turn into a recreational marijuana state, as Governor Tate Reeves frequently argued.
A program that stirred intense passions before it was implemented has moved along quietly, steadily, without fanfare. It’s just another Mississippi industry now.
Even so, Mississippi paid a high price for medical marijuana. When a constitutional amendment was overwhelmingly approved (70%) at the ballot box in November 2020 to create a medical marijuana program, opponents didn’t respectfully bow to the will of the people. They simply went behind the scenes to have the legislation overturned in court. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that citizens no longer had the right to change the constitution at the polls (called citizens referendums). That ruling negated the amendment approved by voters. Citizens still don’t have the right to change the laws by vote. They likely never will.
The legislature passed medical marijuana the following year. The first prescription was filled at a dispensary in Brookhaven in January 2023.
The industry is carefully tracked by the state’s Department of Revenue and the Department of Health.
According to those sources, for the last fiscal year there were a shade more than 50,000 people with active medical marijuana cards, 374 related business licenses and more than $11 million in tax revenue. Mississippi’s medical marijuana program is generally considered a success, characterized by strong fiscal growth and high patient adoption. While there were some business closures early on, the program has matured with new legislation passed in the 2026 session to streamline the program to make it more efficient and accessible.
With eight dispensaries and several small-scale cultivators and transporters, Lowndes County and Columbus remain a leading market for medical cannabis in North Mississippi. Starkville has six dispensaries. With its proximity to Mississippi State University, Starkville is often a focus for discussions regarding future cannabis research.
We’ve come a long way in a lot of areas, not the least of which is our legislature’s stance on medical marijuana. From throwing up every conceivable obstacle to writing laws that support the program, the legislature finally learned what supporters knew all along.
Medical marijuana is medicine and it should be treated that way.
Medical marijuana is medicine, and it should be treated that way — even if some of us would prefer it came with a less memorable smell.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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