Former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove is teaming up with Quentin Whitwell, a healthcare executive, to apply for a state license to open a medical marijuana testing facility called Magnolia Tech Labs, in Marshall County.
The Mississippi State Department of Health started taking applications this week for the state’s new medical marijuana program for patients, medical practitioners, growers, processors, testers, and transportation and waste disposal providers.
Musgrove and Quentin Whitwell, who are both attorneys, told The Associated Press this week that they are applying for a license to open Magnolia Tech Labs in Marshall County.
Whitwell is involved with three rural hospitals in north Mississippi. He is owner and chief executive office of Panola Medical Center in Batesville, administrator and CEO of Quitman Community Hospital in Marks and chief operating officer and legal counsel for the Alliance Healthcare System hospital in Holly Springs, which is in Marshall County.
“To me, medical marijuana is … a natural progression of options for health care in Mississippi and in America,” Musgrove said. “I mean, to me, it’s obvious that it will eventually be offered in all 50 states.”
A majority of Mississippi voters approved a medical marijuana ballot initiative in November 2020, but the state Supreme Court invalidated the results. Earlier this year, current Gov. Tate Reeves signed a law to create a medical marijuana program.
Whitwell said their facility would test for the potency of the marijuana. It would also check the products for impurities and pollutants.
“We recognized immediately that if the product is not safe and is not authenticated to be what someone would expect they are getting, there could be a problem,” Whitwell said.
They said they plan to open in Holly Springs because they have access to a facility that already has been doing toxicology testing.
“Essentially the same equipment is used for medical marijuana testing,” Whitwell said. “So, we already have staff and people, employees that know how to do tests properly.”
