MERIDIAN, Miss. — Legally Rooted Cannabis Dispensary opened on Jan. 27, 2023 as the first medical marijuana dispensary in Meridian and one of the first dispensaries to open statewide. The dispensary opened just as the first crop of medicinal-grade marijuana and products became ready to sell.
Looking back on the past year, co-owner Ashley Toney said the changes in both the industry and the patients has been astounding.
“I’m really just kind of speechless because everything, it took off so fast,” she said.
As the dispensary opened, the Mississippi Department of Health, which is tasked with issuing medical marijuana licenses for patients, prescribers, cultivation facilities, processing facilities and facilities for testing, waste disposal and transportation, was overwhelmed with applications. At one point, MSDH had more than 900 applications for patients alone.
Toney said the backlog created long wait times for patients to get approved for a medical marijuana card after completing their application. The wait time at the beginning, she said, was roughly 30 days.
MSDH has since beefed up staffing and cleared its backlog, and most patients receive an answer within a few days, Toney said. Other than a slight delay around Christmas, when many initial patients were due to rectify, the process is now moving along well, she said.
“You got to hit some downfalls and the little kinks and work through them to get everything back running smoothly,” she said.
More and more patients are also being added to the count, Toney said. Legally Rooted continues to see new customers and offers residents help filling out the application. The dispensary staff helps with roughly five or six applications each day, she said.
Education has also become a large part of operating a dispensary as workers help patients understand the often complicated regulations and work to dispel misinformation and biases against marijuana. Toney said her own beliefs about the substance has changed as well as she has come to understand more about the positive impact medical cannabis can have on patients who need it.
“The best thing I think for everybody is to get educated on it before you make that decision of ‘No’ or you make that decision of ‘Yes,’” she said.
The past year has also seen marked changes in the patients themselves. Toney said patients share how much medical cannabis has helped them, and dispensary staff see marked changes in patients from when they first came in to where they are now. The effects, she said, are “chilling.”
“If you could be in here and hear some of the testimonies that people give you, it’ll give you chill bumps,” she said. “And I’m not only hearing it, but recalling that face the first day they came in whether its January 27 or April or May and seeing how much they improved.”
Mississippi voters overwhelmingly supported a ballot initiative creating a medical marijuana program in the 2020 election, with the measure earning 73.7% of the vote. Months later, however, the state Supreme Court threw out the result, as well as the ballot initiative process, due to language requiring signatures from each of the state’s five congressional districts. As a result of the 2000 census, Mississippi lost a congressional district, leaving only four and, according to the Supreme Court, rendering the ballot initiative process invalid.
Legislators, under pressure from voters, passed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in 2022 creating the state’s medical marijuana program. The bill tasked MSDH and the state Department of Revenue with developing the rules and regulations surrounding the program and listed medical conditions that will allow a patient to receive medical marijuana. Also included in the law is a 5% excise tax on the first sale of cannabis product in addition to the state’s 7% sales tax.
A fiscal year 2023 report from the Department of Revenue shows the state collected $8,012,198 in excise tax and dispensary licensing fees for the year ending Sept. 30, 2023.
Moving forward, Toney said she would like to see regulations around how much cannabis a patient can purchase at one time loosen. Currently, she said, patients are only allowed to purchase one week’s worth of cannabis at a time, but some residents aren’t able to come to the dispensary every week.
Some residents have mobility issues, just had surgery, are older and need assistance or lack transportation. Allowing patients to purchase several weeks’ worth of cannabis at one time will make things easier for everyone, Toney said.
“Lighten it up a bit from just your weekly allotment, you know, because some people may not get out but two, three times a month,” she said.
Stacey Williams, another co-owner of the dispensary, said residents picking up a prescription from the pharmacy will routinely get a 30-day or month’s supply. Medical cannabis, she said, should be no different.
“You can get all 30 at once. They don’t make you get seven every week,” she said. “I think the same type standard should be applied here as well since this is a medical treatment.”
Additionally, some residents only get paid once per month, Williams said. Allowing them to buy a month’s worth of medical cannabis would make budgeting a lot easier for them, she said.
Another change, Williams said she would like to see implemented is allowing curbside service. Patients can currently place their orders online and pop into the dispensary to show the necessary identification and pay. Both the verification and payment could easily be done curbside and would be much easier for patients with limited mobility, she said.
“There are people who are able to drive and get around, but it’s difficult for them to get in and out of their car,” she said.
One year has brought a multitude of changes to Mississippi’s medical marijuana program, and the industry continues to change daily, Toney said. Having witnessed the impact medical cannabis has had on Meridian patients, she said she’d recommend those with qualifying conditions consider giving it a shot.