This week was a joyous celebration for marijuana enthusiasts in the state of Mississippi. The state became the 37th to legalize the medical use of the plant on Wednesday.
The move now enables a new form of pain treatment for Mississippi residents who suffer from various and severe debilitating health conditions.
Under the newly signed law, patients can obtain up to 3 ounces of cannabis per month, or 3.5 grams a day.
Patients must be diagnosed by a licensed healthcare professional with any of about two dozen qualifying conditions in order to receive a prescription for medical marijuana.
The conditions include cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s, autism, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe injury.
Marijuana can also be prescribed for “pain state in which the cause of the pain cannot be removed or otherwise treated … and which no relief or cure of the cause of the pain is possible.”
Mississippi voters had overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to establish a medical cannabis program in November 2020.
