State leaders are dealing with the ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling that tossed out both the ballot initiative option and medical marijuana. House Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White supports going into special session to create a medical marijuana program. Efforts to reinstate the ballot initiative would have to go before voters, and at the earliest, that would be November of 2022.
During an interview on The Gallo Radio Show on SuperTalk Mississippi, White said he sees this as an opportunity. “I think it’s an opportunity for us to not only fix the 5 to 4 and get that language right, but also get right how we do out ballot initiative process.”
He expressed concerns with the initiative process. “On the ballot, you’re limited in how many words you can put on there to explain to the voter what they’re voting on. For all of the clamoring, whether we’re talking about Initiative 65 or any other ballot initiative, a lot of people don’t know. They weren’t schooled on the front end.”
Voters have expressed frustration that their will has been overturned, and many are pushing for Governor Tate Reeves to call a special session to deal with the issues caused by the Supreme Court decision. But doing so can be expensive. That’s why state leaders want to reach some kind of consensus before calling lawmakers back to the Capitol. That is; if the Governor chooses to do so.
