Do you want to get a Mississippi Marijuana Card? Well, unless you’ve been living under a rock, we’re sure you’ve heard by now that medical marijuana is finally on its way to the Magnolia State!
Of course this news raises a lot of questions, and one of the questions we’ve been hearing a lot is “What kinds of products will I be able to buy at Mississippi dispensaries?”
The good news is there will be all kinds of products!
A Conservative Law, but With a Liberal List of Approved Products
The states that have passed medical marijuana laws have enacted very conservative programs. For example, they tend to be highly restrictive in terms of the forms of marijuana patients are allowed to purchase. Usually, forms of marijuana most often associated with recreational use are avoided or highly limited.
Consider Alabama, where a medical marijuana bill was passed in May of 2021. Their program prohibits marijuana in its raw flower form. Edibles are allowed, but only in the form of a “Non-sugar coated gelatinous cube, gelatinous rectangular cuboid, or lozenge in a cube or rectangular cuboid shape.” The law even says that any “food product that has medical cannabis baked, mixed, or otherwise infused into the product, such as cookies or candies” is prohibited.
Mississippi Law More Permissive Than Other Conservative States’ Programs
Let’s compare Alabama’s restrictions to the forms of medical marijuana that will be permitted under SB 2095, Mississippi’s medical marijuana program. Under our law, “cannabis products” is defined as “cannabis flower, concentrated cannabis, cannabis extracts and products that are infused with cannabis or an extract thereof and are intended for use or consumption by humans. The term includes, without limitation, edible cannabis products, beverages, topical products, ointments, oils, tinctures and suppositories.”
Unlike many of our conservative state brethren, there won’t be limits on the types of edible products you’ll be able to purchase, and you will even have access to marijuana in flower form! This will help maximize the value of our medical marijuana program for all patients.
Marijuana Flower Reduces Costs, Increases Participation
Human beings have been smoking marijuana flower for thousands of years, but it isn’t just tradition that makes this method of dosing so popular. Many patients prefer to buy medical marijuana in its raw, flower form for smoking or vaping because it’s more affordable. In fact, the availability of flower can help drive up participation in a medical marijuana market, making all other products in that market affordable as well.
Consider Minnesota, for example. Participation in their medical marijuana market is expected to quadruple due to the recent addition of flower to their permitted forms of medical marijuana. In a program that has struggled with high prices, participation in the program is expected to increase and their prices are expected to drop.
Because flower marijuana isn’t processed, it costs less to produce and therefore costs less to buy. Having this cheaper option available is expected to attract more patient participation, increasing dispensaries’ profits and allowing them to lower the costs of their other items. It’s expected that allowing marijuana flower will diversify revenue streams.
But beyond lowering costs for patients who choose flower, benefitting the market as a whole and bolstering dispensaries’ bottom lines, the option of smoking or vaping flower is a plus because of the health benefits it can offer over other means of dosing.
Smoking and vaping flower delivers effects more quickly than other methods, such as edibles or pills. There are also a wide variety of strains, each of which can deliver specific treatment benefits, so patients can find a medicine that best addresses their specific needs. Finally, flower marijuana is the form that’s most familiar to most patients, as its the form most people first encounter.
Rubbing in Relief: Topical Medical Marijuana Offers Its Own Benefits
Both smoking and vaping, especially the latter, can be hard on the lungs and result in socially embarrassing odors. For those reasons and others, patients may want to consider other topical options.
Topical solutions have the advantage of being easy on the lungs, unlike smoking and vaping, and easy on the stomach, unlike some edibles. Topical applications also offer the ability to do targeted relief. Cancer patients can apply lotions or ointments to their hands and feet to reduce tingling caused by radiation treatments, and M.S. patients can similarly directly treat parts of their body that may ache as a symptom of their condition. Furthermore, the medicinal effects of topicals often last longer than those of smoking and vaping. And with topicals, there are few to no mental effects, perfect for patients who don’t enjoy the high that can come from some other medical marijuana products.
It’s important to note, however, that topicals only offer relief to the areas where they’re applied, they may have a strong odor, and they can leave your skin feeling greasy.
Open Up and Say “Ah”: Oral Dosing Options Are Convenient and Effective
SB 2095 will allow patients to take their medicine orally via edibles, beverages, and tinctures, which can be convenient and help maximize the duration of your medication. Oral delivery has the advantage of offering more precise dosing than other methods, only with a little practice.
As Dr. Andrew Talbott, medical advisor to the Utah-based medical marijuana advocacy group TRUCE, explains, the effects of orally ingested cannabis are delayed. As a result, inexperienced patients may believe their medication isn’t working and consume additional doses before the first one has taken effect, and they may become overmedicated as a result.
However, once you’ve figured out your dosing needs, tablets, capsules, beverages, and edibles can easily offer precise doses.
There are also sublingual preparations, the most common of which is known as tinctures. Tinctures are “concentrated herbal extracts made by soaking the bark, berries, leaves (dried or fresh), or roots from one or more plants in alcohol or vinegar.” Tinctures are made using an oil, alcohol, or vinegar base that pulls the active ingredients from the plant parts, concentrating them as a liquid.
Tinctures are often (and traditionally were always) alcohol based, and if raw cannabis flower is legal, you could easily make your own. Just soak marijuana in high-proof alcohol, straining out the residual solid plant parts, and voila, you have homemade medicine!
Tinctures are taken either sublingually or by swallowing them with a food or drink. When dosing sublingually, place the medicine under your tongue, hold it there for about a minute, then swallow. The active ingredients in the tincture will absorb directly into your bloodstream, taking effect within 20 minutes or less.
Tinctures are often a favored delivery method among doctors, because they are long-lasting and are easy on the lungs. Furthermore, tinctures aren’t absorbed through the digestive tract unless you take them with food or water, so they can be easier on patients’ stomachs than some other oral delivery options.
Tinctures are often available in forms that emphasize CBD content, so they can offer a lot of medicinal value and relief while only providing mild side effects.
Don’t Get Locked Out of the Many Options Mississippi Dispensaries Will Offer!
Of course, all of these diverse product options won’t do you any good if you don’t have a Mississippi Marijuana Card. And while you’ll have to wait for the state’s medical marijuana market to open before you can put that card to use, you don’t have to wait a minute longer to start on the road to relief!
Reserve an evaluation online today, and we’ll book an appointment for you with one of our knowledgeable, compassionate doctors just as soon as Mississippi’s medical marijuana market is up and running!
You’ll meet with your new doctor virtually, using your smartphone or computer, for a telemedicine appointment, and you will discuss your conditions. Then, they’ll determine whether you qualify for a Mississippi Marijuana Card, all without even leaving your home. By reserving an evaluation today, you can save $25 off the cost of the evaluation!
Doctors Who Care.
Relief You Can Trust.
Helping everyone achieve wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana. Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce the stigma for our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
If you have any questions, call us at (833) 781-6635, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
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