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Mississippi’s Medical Cannabis Program has come a long way since sales began in March of 2023 – With over 61,000 active patients, 200 active businesses, and $118 million in retail sales for FY 2025. This isn’t to suggest the program is perfect. In fact, every year since its inception, the program has seen improvements through regulatory and statutory changes.

Hopefully, 2026 will be no different in that we will see changes to the law that improve patient access and reduce burdens on Mississippi businesses. One of the changes that has been consistently asked for – but never seriously considered by the legislature – is the removal of the potency limits placed on flower and concentrate products through the Cannabis Act. The concern being that removing these limits will somehow allow patients to “get higher”.

As the Director of the state’s largest trade organization for medical cannabis, I speak with patients daily who rely on cannabis for relief from chronic and debilitating pain. These patients aren’t interested in “Getting high”. Instead, they’re seeking relief for their agony. Yet our state’s scientifically unsupported potency caps are forcing them to consume more to achieve the same therapeutic effect. That’s antithetical to a medical program. It drives up costs – both financially and to a patient’s health.

Decades of research into cannabis pharmacology show that THC is primarily responsible for pain-relieving effects. This pain relief is what many Mississippi patients who’ve gone through the process of obtaining a patient card are seeking. Research suggests that High-THC products like cannabis concentrates provide quick, efficient relief for severe pain without the need to consume a significant amount to achieve. However, Mississippi’s Medical Cannabis Program arbitrarily restricts these products to 60% THC by dry-weight. Because of the 60% cap, producers must dilute concentrates with additional inputs, which increases costs and introduces unnecessary complexity.

The state’s 30 % cap on flower and 60 % cap on concentrates have little basis in science or in the typical potency of legal cannabis. Only 2 other states besides Mississippi (Vermont and Connecticut) limit potency for cannabis flower, and there are only 5 that limit concentrate potency (the point of a concentrate being that a patient can use less of it to achieve the needed relief).

Costs associated with medical cannabis are almost exclusively out-of-pocket. The average patient spends around $200 per month on their medicine, which can be financially burdensome for many Mississippians, especially in the face of the inflationary crisis in the United States and the costs of everyday items skyrocketing in recent years.

For patients seeking relief from severe or chronic pain, their monthly costs are often higher than $200, due to the need for more product in order to achieve effective relief. By removing the potency caps on both flower and concentrate, a patient seeking high THC would be able to purchase (and consume) less cannabis and achieve the same effect. 

Mississippi’s program is unique in that it doesn’t limit the amount of business licenses issued. Yet the same law imposes potency caps that only two other states (Connecticut and Vermont) apply to flower. A limit on potency doesn’t make products safer, it just sets limits that lack medical justification, and that significantly reduces the value of products grown by Mississippi cultivators.(flower above 30% THC is oftentimes sold to processors at a fraction of the value).

Potency limits on concentrates are particularly harmful to patient access. Many medical patients across the country (including in our neighboring states of Louisiana and Arkansas) use concentrates with 70 – 90% for fast-acting relief.  Mississippi’s 60% limit bars certain options for patients. 

Another thing to note is that almost all processing and extraction methods used to create concentrates are going to result in an end-product that is higher than 60% potency. This means that in order to sell the product in a retail dispensary, producers are forced to add unnecessary components to dilute the product, leading to increased labor costs and, in some cases, contamination issues as a result of the outside components.

Limiting potency for medicine in a program where the patients pay 100% of  the costs from their own pockets does nothing but cost Mississippians more.

Patients who are suffering from extreme pain and seek high THC products for their relief may turn to alternatives outside the program, which can be legally risky or lack safety standards

Patients in north Mississippi can obtain a non-resident patient card from the state of Arkansas – a state which doesn’t have limits on THC – and purchase products over our potency caps. However, crossing state lines with medical cannabis is still federally illegal and could put these patients in danger with the law.

Alternatively, patients (and non-patients) in Mississippi also have access to extremely high potency hemp-derived products sold in gas stations and vape shops across the state. Unfortunately, in addition to the lack of potency limits on these products, the state has yet to impose any testing or product safety restrictions on them either.

(Note – the recent opinion of the MS Attorney General has had an impact on the sales of these products in many counties across the state, but statewide enforcement hasn’t happened yet)

Traditional medicine has always trusted physicians and patients to determine dosage. We do not legislate maximum dosages of opioids or antidepressants; instead, we rely on clinicians to weigh benefits and risks. Mississippi should apply the same principle to medical cannabis. Our program has some of the strictest testing, labeling and physician oversight requirements in the country, built with the intent of providing access to real patients in Mississippi. These potency limits are antithetical to this intention by forcing patients with chronic pain to inhale more plant matter or pay for multiple units of lower‑potency product when a stronger formulation exists.

Additionally, the patient/practitioner relationship acts as a preventative measure against more vulnerable patients (those with pre-existing mental health conditions) from gaining access to high potency products.

Removing the potency caps would not mean that dispensaries must sell ultra‑high‑THC products to everyone. Rather, it would allow healthcare providers to recommend higher‑potency flower or concentrates for patients who need it while enabling others to choose low‑THC or CBD‑rich products. More potent products could also encourage patients to switch from smoking to vaping or oral forms that deliver the same relief with less respiratory harm.

Mississippi’s Medical Cannabis Program is still young, but it already serves tens of thousands of patients. Patients in Mississippi suffering from high levels of pain are paying high out-of-pocket costs for their relief. The good news is, the MS Legislature will have an opportunity to improve the lives of their fellow Mississippians enrolled in this program by voting to remove the restrictive potency limits on safe, tested and effective medicine.

The sentiment surrounding the MS Medical Cannabis Program must shift from the lingering misconceptions rooted in outdated views of cannabis towards a more holistic, nuanced approach to healthcare. Each elected official in the state has at least one constituent that finds relief through the program, and should consider that when approaching positive reforms for it.

Henry Crisler – Director, 3MA 

The Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association consists of cannabis operators across the state. We work together to help shape the narrative of the cannabis industry in Mississippi and support meaningful changes to the laws that regulate it. For more information about 3MA and our efforts, and to learn more about how you can become a member, please visit our website at https://www.medicalmarijuanams.com/