New Mississippi laws change how patients access physician-administered drugs, add a community health worker program to the Mississippi State Department of Health, authorize the direct shipment of wine and ban diversity, equity and inclusion statements in public schools.

Here’s an overview of some of the new laws that took effect in Mississippi on July 1.

Protecting Patients’ Access to Physician-Administered Drugs Act

Five years ago, Mississippi House Rep. Lee Yancey, R-Brandon, was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for cancer when he noticed that some insurance companies required other patients to purchase their prescriptions from specific pharmacies in the insurance network. Sometimes, a patient would have to get their medicine shipped from out of state instead of being able to pick up their prescription at the pharmacy in the hospital or clinic where they had been treated, he said.

“There are all kinds of risks with that—whether or not the drug stays the right temperature, or whether or not there is enough of the drug or too much of the drug. Or is it handled properly? Or does it get delivered on time?” Yancey told the Mississippi Free Press on June 26.

While the lawmaker was able to obtain his medicine at the same hospital where he received treatment, he said he sympathized with patients who had different insurance providers and had hurdles obtaining prescriptions.

The lawmaker wrote House Bill 17 to protect patients’ access to physician-administered drugs so that they can choose whether to get medicine from their local treatment center or from the pharmacy the insurance company suggests. Yancey said the law prevents insurers from adding fees if patients do not purchase prescriptions from a specific pharmacy.

Though Gov. Tate Reeves did not sign H.B. 17, it became law because the legislation received a two-thirds majority vote from both the Mississippi House and Senate. 

New Community Health Worker Program

Community health workers are residents who provide simple medical and health care for their communities, including preventative, promotional and rehabilitative care, without the education required to be a nurse or doctor.

The Mississippi State Department of Health will now establish a community health worker certification program to help Mississippians gain better access to health care under House Bill 1401. The new law says no one may work as a community health worker in Mississippi without MSDH certifying the worker.

Mississippi House Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, said she signed onto the bill because she wanted to improve Mississippi’s maternal health outcomes. She said she especially wanted to help Black women have access to care because Black women in Mississippi die at disproportionate rates during pregnancy and birth compared to women of other races.

“Every emergency may not necessarily require that a woman go to the hospital, so what a community health worker can do in the interim is to provide that specialized, one-on-one care that they need,” Summers told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24.

Community health workers not only help pregnant people but can also assist any member of the community. The workers can assess a patient and give them short-term care or recommend that the patient go to a hospital or see a licensed doctor. Having community health professionals helps bridge the gap between health care and accessibility in rural areas of Mississippi, Summers said.

Ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion        

Educators in Mississippi public schools will not be able to create, teach or promote diversity, equity and inclusion programs under House Bill 1193. The new law also prohibits Mississippi public schools, state-accredited nonpublic schools and state-supported institutions of higher learning from requiring diversity statements or training in hiring, admission and employment processes.

The bill’s author, Mississippi House Rep. Joey Hood, R-Ackerman, said his legislation does not ban free speech or prohibit schools from teaching about slavery.

“We’re not going to restrict anyone’s freedom of speech because that’s guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America,” Hood said on Feb. 5 when introducing the legislation on the House floor. “There’s also an exception with this bill in regard to any violations of free speech. That’s not what it’s about. What it’s about is these institutions that are requiring these kinds of divisive concepts as part of an admissions process or being part of that school. Basically, we’re outlining what the divisive concepts are. We’re not going to mistreat anybody on the basis of race, sex, color, gender—any of those things that I outlined. So students are free to do what students want to do.”

Plaintiffs have argued that the new anti-diversity, equity and inclusion law violates the First and 14th Amendments in a federal lawsuit against the governing boards of Mississippi’s public schools and institutions.

The ACLU of Mississippi, Mississippi Center for Justice, Badat Legal and Quinn, Connor, Weaver, Davies & Rouco LLP, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi on June 9.

“Nowhere is it more important to confront our history and our present-day realities than in Mississippi. When our teachers are afraid to teach, and when our students are banned from learning, we cannot progress as a state, a country, or a society,” said Amir Badat, a civil rights and racial justice attorney based in Mississippi, in a June 9 press release.

Tax Reform

Mississippi will gradually eliminate its income tax while reducing the grocery tax and raising the gas tax under a new law. In addition to cutting grocery and income taxes, House Bill 1 will also prevent liabilities from growing in the Public Employees’ Retirement System by reducing benefits for future employees.

Read our story on the changes for more details.

Ban Sexual Grooming of a Child

Any person over the age of 21 who grooms a child by knowingly engaging in communication to coerce the child to engage in sexually explicit conduct, human trafficking or sexual servitude could be found guilty of committing a felony. Punishment for the crime ranges from spending anywhere from two to 10 years in prison and paying a fine of up to $10,000 under House Bill 1308.

If the person convicted of grooming the child was in a “position of trust or authority” over the child, they could spend between five to 10 years in prison and pay up to a $20,000 fine under the bill. The legislation defines a person who is in a “position of trust or authority” over a child as a child’s teacher, counselor, doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, minister, priest, physical therapist, chiropractor, legal guardian, parent, stepparent, aunt, uncle, scout leader or coach.

“There is a provision in here that permits the court to register the individual as a sex offender. It’s not a requirement to register as a sex offender. The court would consider each case on a case-by-case basis to determine whether or not a sex offender registration is warranted,” the bill’s author, Rep. Jansen Owen, R-Poplarville, said on the Mississippi House floor on Feb. 13.

Polling Place Closures

Since 2020, the Mississippi Free Press has reported on hundreds of precinct closures and changes, including some that happened mere weeks before an election. In 2023, the Mississippi Free Press reported on how Hinds County officials moved two Jackson polling places just hours before voters headed to the polls for that year’s party primaries after realizing that they were not accessible for disabled voters, likely in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Months later, in February 2024, Mississippi House Rep. Zakiya Summers, a Jackson Democrat, introduced her first attempt at passing legislation to prevent last-minute polling place changes. The bill earned approval in the House that year, but it died in the Senate.

This year, it passed with no lawmakers opposed in the form of House Bill 1419, which says Mississippi election officials will no longer be able to change or close polling places within 60 days of an election except under certain circumstances. 

Gov. Tate Reeves signed it into law on March 12 and it took effect on July 1.

In February 2024, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted to close and merge voting precincts in West Jackson and Hinds County—areas in the district Rep. Zakiya Summers, D-Jackson, represents. She said she did not want the board to make voting less accessible for citizens by combining and closing polling places because many of her constituents walk or take public transportation to go vote. 

“And the precincts within West Jackson, if they had moved forward with that action, was going to, in my opinion, perpetuate voter suppression for the voters in my community,” she told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24.

The board voted in April 2024 to revoke its decision to merge or close precincts.

Summers said she strengthened the legislation for the 2025 session by working with the Mississippi House and Senate Elections Committee chairmen as well as the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office. 

Direct Wine Shipping

Mississippians can now purchase wine from out of state and get it delivered to their doorsteps under Senate Bill 2145. Mississippians could get up to 12 cases of nine-liter wine bottles per household yearly under the new law.

Licensed out-of-state wineries would need to apply for a direct wine shipper’s permit from the Mississippi Department of Revenue to participate in the program. Wine made or sold in Mississippi does not qualify for the program under the legislation.

“These wines never have to go through our ABC warehouses, so the costs associated with that do not apply. So this is revenue directly to the state,” the bill’s author, Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, said when introducing the legislation on the Senate floor on Feb. 13.

Alcoholic-Beverage Permits

A person convicted of certain felonies may be able to obtain an alcoholic-beverage permit from the Mississippi Department of Revenue 10 years after completing all sentencing requirements under a new law.

The person must not have felony convictions of “crime or violence or a violation of state or federal controlled substance laws,” Senate Bill 2143 says.

Cigarette and Vape Directories                

Retailers and manufacturers must register all cigarette and vape products with the Mississippi Department of Revenue to sell tobacco products in Mississippi under House Bill 916. Manufacturers and retailers must obtain an annual certification with DOR under the new law.

DOR will create separate directories for cigarettes and vapes. If a tobacco product is not on the registry, a retailer cannot sell it in Mississippi.

“We have really what I would call an epidemic in the State of Mississippi with convenience stores, c-stores, gas stations, other stores of the like selling products that we don’t know where they came from. Some of these products come in from overseas, they’re not properly regulated, they haven’t been reviewed by the proper regulators on the federal level,” the bill’s author, Rep. Trey Lamar, R-Senatobia, said when introducing the bill on the House floor on Jan. 29.

Seafood Country of Origin Labeling Requirement

Wholesalers, processors, retailers and food-service establishments must provide country of origin labeling for crawfish and seafood under a new law. House Bill 602 says that people and businesses that sell seafood must not falsely claim that seafood is domestic, whether verbally, on a menu or on a sign.

In 2024, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, a historic seafood restaurant in Biloxi, Miss., admitted in federal court to selling foreign, frozen seafood and passing it off as “fresh Gulf seafood.” 

Mississippi Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Gulfport, helped pass the legislation on the Senate side. He said he wants to boost the public’s awareness of local seafood by working on marketing.

“I think everyone acknowledges that we want to make a little bit better effort to try to coordinate labeling with a marketing effort to create that demand for local seafood,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on June 27.

Related

From 2009 to 2024, home values increased by $60,327 more in states where recreational cannabis is now legal than where it is still illegal, according to a new report from Clever Offers, a website for home sellers.

In 2024, the typical home in a recreational marijuana state was worth $447,635 — about 39% or $126,731 more than in non-recreational states ($320,904).

States with legal recreational cannabis have seen home values climb by $222,958 over the past 15 years, compared to $162,631 in states where it is illegal — a $60,327 difference.

Of the states with the highest home value increases since 2009, all but one, Idaho, have legalized cannabis in some form:

1. California ($492,520 increase in home values since 2009)
2. Hawaii ($446,247)
3. Washington ($342,414)
4. Massachusetts ($340,127)
5. Colorado ($336,774)
6. Utah ($320,372)
7. Idaho ($300,309)
8. Nevada ($296,493)
9. Oregon ($275,826)
10. New Hampshire ($273,238)
11. Arizona ($273,055)

Conversely, nine of the states with the lowest home value growth over the past 15 years have not legalized recreational cannabis, with Illinois being the only recreationally legal state on the list:

1. Louisiana ($46,820)
2. West Virginia ($67,214)
3. Mississippi ($69,036)
4. Arkansas ($94,646)
5. Oklahoma ($100,226)
6. Iowa ($102,538)
7. Alabama ($103,466)
8. Illinois ($103,955)
9. Kentucky ($106,230)
10. North Dakota ($108,117)

Similarly, homes in states where medicinal marijuana is now legal are currently worth about $390,117 — about 18% more than homes in states where cannabis is illegal ($329,850).

From 2009 to 2024, medicinal states’ home values climbed by $22,185 more than illegal states’ home values ($194,813 vs. $172,628 growth, respectively).

Had Ohio, Minnesota, and Delaware — the latest to legalize — done so when the first states, Colorado and Washington, did, their projected home values could be $96,890 higher on average today.

Voters passed Initiative 65 back in 2020, demanding a Mississippi medical marijuana program. But after a bizarre legal technicality killed the vote, state lawmakers came through with Senate Bill 2095 in 2022. That’s what gave us today’s MMCP, also known as the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program.

Quick snapshot of Mississippi Medical Marijuana

• Program name: Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program (MMCP)
• Launched: February 2022
• State agency: Mississippi Department of Health
• Dispensary count (July 2025): ~180 licensed storefronts
• Patient purchase cap: 6 MMCEUs per week / 24 per month
• Translation: About 21 grams of flower weekly or 84 grams monthly

Dispensaries officially opened in early 2023, and now the state is home to over 40,000 registered medical patients. There are local brands, farms, and retailers all working together to cultivate, manufacture, and distribute all of the product currently available in the state.

Mississippi might’ve taken the long road—but they’re up and running.

Qualifying Conditions for Medical Marijuana in Mississippi in 2025

If you’re dealing with one of these conditions (or a few), you’re probably eligible:

• Cancer
• PTSD
• Epilepsy
• Chronic pain
• Parkinson’s disease
• HIV/AIDS
• Glaucoma
• Multiple sclerosis
• Crohn’s disease
• ALS
• Autism
• Terminal illness

👉 Pro tip: Your physician must be MMCP-certified.

Don’t just go to your regular doctor—double check they’re registered with the state first.

The Mississippi Medical Marijuana Application Cheat Sheet

MMCEUs: Mississippi’s Medical Marijuana Program’s Currency

Let’s talk limits. Mississippi uses something called Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units (MMCEUs):

• 1 MMCEU =
  • 3.5 grams of flower
  • or 1 gram of concentrate
  • or 100 mg of THC in edibles or infused products

Maximums for patients:

• Per week: 6 MMCEUs (≈ 21g of flower)
• Per month: 24 MMCEUs (≈ 84g)
• Total possession: 28 MMCEUs at one time (≈ 98g flower)

Flower potency is capped at 30% THC and concentrates at 60% THC.

Where to Buy & What to Expect

Dispensaries are scattered across the state now, with most concentrated in metro areas like Jackson, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, and Oxford.

• All products tracked via Metrc (state system)
• No out-of-state reciprocity (yet)
• No public smoking allowed
• Prices range from $40–$50 per eighth for top-shelf flower

🛑 Dispensaries must be 1,000 feet from churches and schools, unless a waiver is granted.

Mississippi Medical Marijuana Rules You Need to Know

✅ Keep your receipts. If you get pulled over, law enforcement wants proof that what you have is legal.
✅ Don’t overstock. Possession beyond your monthly cap = criminal offense.
✅ No sharing. Only you can use what you purchase—no friends, no family.
✅ Don’t smoke in public. You can still get ticketed or arrested.

What’s Next for the Mississippi Cannabis Industry?

The 2025 legislative session is eyeing changes like:

• Adjusting MMCEU limits
• Expanding lab testing requirements
• Possibly expanding qualifying conditions

HB 611 is the bill to watch—but for now, no major changes are locked in.

Mississippi’s medical marijuana system might be stricter than some states, but it’s here—and growing.

Get certified.

Know your MMCEUs.

Keep it clean and legal.

And if you’re still stuck figuring out where to start, head over to mmcp.ms.gov and tap in with a certified doc.

Respect the rules, respect the plant—this is Mississippi’s medical marijuana time now.