Mississippi’s governor has vetoed a pair of bills to expand medical marijuana access while signing separate legislation to support research in hopes of gaining federal approval for the psychedelic ibogaine as a novel treatment option.
Lawmakers approved each measure by strong margins, but on Thursday Gov. Tate Reeves (R) rejected the cannabis proposals while accepting the psychedelics one.
One of the vetoed bills, known as the “Right to Try Medical Cannabis Act,” would have created a pathway for patients who don’t have one of the state’s specific delineated qualifying conditions to become eligible for legal marijuana access.
Under HB 1152, from Rep. Lee Yancey (R), doctors could have submitted petitions to the state Department of Health on behalf of their patients who have chronic, progressive, severely disabling or terminal illnesses. The state health officer would then have been able to approve or deny those requests.
Reeves wrote in a veto message that while he believes “nearly all reasonable people would agree that a Mississippian suffering from a painful and debilitating terminal illness should be afforded an opportunity, subject to medical review, to try any medication or treatment to ease their suffering when they are near the end of life,” recent
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