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Mississippi Marijuana and Hemp Decriminalization Initiative (2023)

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Mississippi Marijuana and Hemp Decriminalization Initiative
Flag of Mississippi.png
Election date
November 7, 2023
Topic
Marijuana
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Mississippi Marijuana and Hemp Decriminalization Initiative was not on the ballot in Mississippi as an indirect initiated constitutional amendment on November 7, 2023.

The measure would have legalized the use of marijuana, hemp, and cannabis-derivatives, allowed individuals to grow up to 99 plants without a license, release prisoners held on marijuana-related charges, and expunge related criminal records. The text of the measure included a provision stating, "this law supersedes all previous state law (including Initiative 65) on Hemp and Marijuana and all derivatives."[1]

Text of measure

The full text of the measure can be found here.

Background

Recreational marijuana in the United States

See also: History of marijuana ballot measures and laws

As of November 2020, 16 states and the District of Columbia had legalized marijuana for recreational purposes; nine through statewide citizen initiatives, and two through bills approved by state legislatures and signed by governors. Colorado and Washington both opted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012. In a subsequent Colorado measure, voters enacted a statewide marijuana taxation system. The three ballot measures that passed in 2014 were Oregon's Measure 91, Alaska's Measure 2, and the District of Columbia's Initiative 71. Voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved recreational marijuana legalization ballot measures in November 2016. The Vermont State Legislature approved a bill in mid-January 2018 to allow recreational marijuana, and Gov. Phil Scott (R) signed it into law on January 22, 2018. Gov. Scott vetoed a previous bill to legalize marijuana in May 2017. On June 25, 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law legalizing the use and possession of recreational marijuana. Initiatives legalizing recreational marijuana were on the ballot in November 2018 in Michigan and North Dakota. The Michigan initiative was approved, and the North Dakota initiative was defeated. Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota approved legalization through initiatives in 2020. New Jersey approved legalization through a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in 2020.[2][3]

The map below details the status of recreational marijuana legalization in the states as of November 2020. States shaded in green had legalized recreational marijuana usage (the shades of green indicate the years in which ballot measures were adopted; light green indicates measures approved in 2012, medium green indicates measures approved in 2014, medium-dark green indicates measures approved in 2016, and dark green indicates measures approved in 2018 and 2020). The states shaded in dark gray had defeated ballot measures that proposed to legalize recreational marijuana. States in blue had recreational marijuana approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor. The remaining states (those shaded in light gray) had not legalized recreational marijuana.

Recreational marijuana legalization measures, 2012-2020

The following table provides information on the political context of the states that had voted on legalization measures as of 2022.

Click "Show" to expand the table.


Initiative 65, 2020

See also: Mississippi Ballot Measure 1, Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A, Medical Marijuana Amendment (2020)

Mississippi Ballot Measure 1, (Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A) two versions of a medical marijuana amendment, were on the ballot in Mississippi on November 3, 2020. Initiative 65 was an indirect initiated constitutional amendment and Alternative 65 was referred to the ballot alongside Initiative 65 as an alternative measure by the state legislature. Initiative 65 was approved.

Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A were both designed to amend the Mississippi Constitution to provide for the establishment of a medical marijuana program in Mississippi for individuals with a debilitating medical condition.

Under Initiative 65, medical marijuana could be recommended for patients with at least one of the 22 specified qualifying conditions including cancer, epilepsy or seizures, Parkinson's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Crohn’s disease, HIV, and more. Patients could possess up to 2.5 ounces of medical marijuana at one time. Marijuana sales under Initiative 65 was set to be taxed at the state's sales tax rate, which was 7% as of 2020.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Mississippi

The state process

In Mississippi, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 12 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial general election immediately preceding the signature deadline—not necessarily the gubernatorial election immediately preceding the targeted election date. Beginning with the day the sponsor receives the ballot title and summary, proponents have one year to circulate petitions and receive certification from the county circuit clerks. Petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state at least 90 days prior to the beginning of the regular session—which begins in the first week of January.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2023 ballot:

  • Signatures: 106,190 valid signatures were required.
  • Deadline: Petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state at least 90 days prior to the beginning of the state legislative session—which begins in the first week of January.

Petition sponsors must submit signatures to the appropriate county circuit clerks. There are no mandatory deadlines for this review and sponsors are recommended to coordinate with local clerks to ensure timely certification. Once the circuit clerks have certified the signatures, proponents must file the entire petition with the secretary of state. Sponsors must also pay a $500 fee upon filing.

An initiative must receive a majority of the total votes cast for that particular initiative and must also receive more than 40% of the total votes cast in that election.[4]

Details about this initiative

  • Dr. David Allen filed the initiative.[5]
  • The measure was filed targeting the 2022 ballot, but did not qualify for the 2022 ballot because proponents did not submit signatures by the deadline. Since signatures are valid for one year following the date that ballot language is finalized, the measure could have qualified for the 2023 ballot.
  • Signatures were not submitted by the one-year circulation deadline nor by the October 5, 2022, deadline, therefore the measure did not qualify for the 2023 ballot.[6]

On May 14, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Initiative 65, the 2020 medical marijuana initiative. The ruling stated that the initiative petition did not comply with the signature distribution requirements in the Mississippi Constitution and that it is impossible for any petition to meet the requirements and has been impossible since congressional reapportionment in 2001.

The six justices wrote, "... Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of [the constitutional signature distribution requirement] wrote a ballot initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress. To work in today’s reality, it will need amending—something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court."[7]

The 1992 constitutional amendment that granted the power of citizen initiative in Mississippi required signatures to be collected evenly from all five congressional districts that existed at the time. It mandated no more than one-fifth of the required signatures could be collected from any single congressional district. During 2001 redistricting after the 2000 census, however, the number of congressional districts in the state was reduced to four.

Sponsors of some initiatives targeting the 2022 ballot in Mississippi filed a lawsuit challenging the Supreme Court's ruling.[8]

Click here for more information on the lawsuit and the ruling.


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Initiative 77 full text," accessed May 4, 2021
  2. ↑ The Hill, "Vermont governor vetoes marijuana legalization," May 24, 2017
  3. ↑ Associated Press, "Illinois becomes 11th state to allow recreational marijuana," June 25, 2019
  4. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Mississippi's initiative process," accessed December 27, 2018
  5. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Filed initiatives," accessed May 4, 2021
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Sos
  7. ↑ Mississippi Supreme Court, "IN RE INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 65: MAYOR MARY HAWKINS BUTLER v MICHAEL WATSON, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI," accessed May 14, 2021
  8. ↑ WMC Action News, "Challenge filed to Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling on Initiative 65," accessed June 3, 2021
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