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Mississippi

CANNABIS DISPENSARY REGULATIONS FOR MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi operates a regulated medical cannabis program overseen jointly by the Mississippi State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Revenue.

The Mississippi State Department of Health administers the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program and regulates patients, caregivers, practitioners, cultivators, processors, testing facilities, transporters, research facilities, and cannabis disposal entities.

The Mississippi Department of Revenue licenses, regulates, and enforces the laws governing medical cannabis dispensaries through its Alcoholic Beverage Control Enforcement Division.

Licensed medical cannabis sales began in January 2023. By the end of 2025, Mississippi had more than 66,000 active patients and generated approximately $138.9 million in annual medical cannabis retail sales.

Dispensary Licensing and Fees

The Mississippi Department of Revenue is currently accepting electronic applications for medical cannabis dispensary licenses.

The first-year cost of a dispensary license is $40,000, consisting of:

  • A $15,000 nonrefundable application fee
  • A $25,000 annual license fee

The annual renewal fee is $25,000.

Applicants must provide detailed ownership information, proof of business registration, a Mississippi sales tax permit, evidence of control over the proposed premises, an operations plan, a security plan, and any required local licenses or permits.

MDOR generally issues a decision within 30 days after receiving a complete application and all required supporting documentation.

Location and Local Approval Requirements

A medical cannabis dispensary must be located in an area zoned for commercial activity or another location where commercial businesses are permitted.

The main entrance generally must be at least 1,000 feet from the property line of a school, church, or childcare facility. A waiver may be available with the affected organization’s approval, but the dispensary entrance cannot be closer than 500 feet.

A dispensary must also be at least 1,500 feet from the main entrance of another licensed medical cannabis dispensary.

Some Mississippi cities and counties opted out of allowing dispensaries under the original medical cannabis law. Applicants should review the current MDOR opt-out information and contact the applicable local government before committing to a location.

Local governments may impose reasonable requirements involving zoning, permitting, operating hours, and business registration.

Other Medical Cannabis Business Licenses

MSDH licenses the following types of medical cannabis establishments:

  • Micro-cultivation facilities
  • Cultivation facilities
  • Micro-processing facilities
  • Processing facilities
  • Testing facilities
  • Transportation entities
  • Waste disposal entities
  • Research facilities

Application fees vary by license type and, for cultivators, by canopy size. Current nonrefundable application fees include:

  • Micro-cultivators: $1,500 or $2,500, depending on tier
  • Cultivators: $5,000 to $60,000, depending on tier
  • Micro-processors: $2,000 or $2,500, depending on tier
  • Processors: $15,000
  • Testing facilities: $10,000
  • Transporters: $5,000
  • Waste disposal entities: $5,000

Mississippi imposed a temporary moratorium on new cultivation and processing licenses beginning July 1, 2024. That moratorium expired in 2025 and should no longer be presented as a current licensing restriction.

Applicants should verify current application availability, licensing fees, and requirements through the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program before applying.

Dispensary Operations and Employee Requirements

Every dispensary employee must obtain a state-issued medical cannabis work permit before beginning work.

Applicants for work permits must:

  • Be at least 21 years old
  • Pass the required background review
  • Have no disqualifying felony conviction
  • Complete eight hours of initial training
  • Complete five hours of continuing training annually

Required training covers product handling, storage, security, patient purchase limits, card verification, restrictions on providing medical advice, and other dispensary compliance obligations.

Dispensaries must maintain training attestations in each employee’s personnel file and make them available for regulatory review.

Product Tracking, Testing, and Safety

Mississippi uses Metrc as its statewide seed-to-sale tracking system. Licensed businesses must record regulated cannabis inventory, transfers, testing information, and retail sales within the system.

Medical cannabis products must undergo required safety and potency testing before entering the retail market. Testing may include screening for pesticides, microorganisms, heavy metals, residual solvents, toxins, and other contaminants.

Products must be sold in compliant packaging that is child-resistant, opaque, properly labeled, and designed to avoid appealing to children.

Required labels include information such as:

  • Product and batch names
  • Seed-to-sale identification numbers
  • Net weight or quantity
  • THC and CBD content
  • Ingredients and potential allergens
  • Applicable serving information
  • Required health and safety warnings

Products containing more than 30% total THC must be labeled “extremely potent.”

MSDH may place products on administrative hold, require additional testing, order corrective action, or remove products from circulation when safety or compliance concerns arise.

Patient Purchase and Possession Limits

Mississippi measures medical cannabis allotments using Mississippi Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units, known as MMCEUs.

One MMCEU equals:

  • 3.5 grams of medical cannabis flower
  • 1 gram of total THC in a medical cannabis concentrate
  • 1 gram of total THC in an infused cannabis product

A resident cardholder may purchase no more than six MMCEUs per week and 24 MMCEUs during a rolling 30-day period. For flower, 24 MMCEUs equals 84 grams, or approximately 2.96 ounces.

Resident cardholders may possess up to 28 MMCEUs.

Nonresident cardholders may purchase up to six MMCEUs per week and 12 MMCEUs during an approved 15-day participation period. Their possession limit is 14 MMCEUs.

Dispensaries must verify each customer’s identity, registry card, and available allotment through the state tracking system before completing a sale.

Patient Registration

Patients must receive certification from a practitioner registered with the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program. Eligible practitioners include physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and optometrists acting within their authorized scope of practice.

After certification, the patient must apply to MSDH for a medical cannabis registry identification card.

The standard patient card fee is $25. Medicaid participants pay a reduced $15 fee, while qualifying disabled veterans and disabled first responders may receive a fee waiver.

Patients between 18 and 25 generally need their qualifying condition confirmed by two practitioners from separate medical practices, with at least one being a physician. Limited exceptions apply.

Home cultivation is not permitted. Patients and caregivers must obtain medical cannabis through licensed Mississippi dispensaries.

Medical Cannabis Taxes

Mississippi applies two principal taxes within the medical cannabis market:

  • A 5% excise tax on a cultivator’s first sale or transfer of medical cannabis
  • A 7% sales tax charged to cardholders at the dispensary

Additional local tax levies apply to dispensary sales in Jackson and Tupelo.

Cannabis businesses may also be responsible for other applicable sales, income, employment, or withholding taxes.

Banking and Payment Processing

Cannabis remains federally restricted, creating additional banking, underwriting, and payment-processing requirements for Mississippi medical cannabis businesses.

Operators should work with financial providers that understand cannabis compliance, transparent underwriting, transaction monitoring, and the operational needs of regulated dispensaries.

Contact PayRio to discuss compliant payment-processing options for your eligible Mississippi medical cannabis business.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION HISTORY IN MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi voters approved Initiative 65 in November 2020, creating a constitutional medical cannabis program.

In May 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court invalidated the initiative because the state’s ballot-signature process could not satisfy the constitutional distribution requirement after Mississippi reduced its number of congressional districts. The ruling prevented Initiative 65 from taking effect.

Lawmakers subsequently developed a replacement medical cannabis framework. Governor Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act into law on February 2, 2022.

MSDH and MDOR then established regulations, licensed businesses, registered patients and practitioners, and implemented the state’s seed-to-sale tracking system.

Licensed medical cannabis retail sales began in January 2023.

Mississippi updated portions of the program in 2025, including the MMCEU calculations for concentrates and infused products, limited telemedicine access for certain homebound or bedbound patients, and the licensing process for proposed business locations.

CANNABIS LEGALIZATION STATUS IN MISSISSIPPI

Current Status: Legal for medical use only

Mississippi law currently allows:

  • Registered patients with qualifying conditions to purchase medical cannabis from licensed dispensaries
  • Registered caregivers to purchase cannabis for designated patients
  • Temporary participation by qualifying nonresident patients
  • Licensed cultivation, processing, testing, transportation, research, disposal, and retail distribution
  • Medical cannabis flower, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, topicals, and other approved products

Recreational cannabis remains illegal in Mississippi. Home cultivation is also prohibited, including for registered medical cannabis patients.

Mississippi’s medical cannabis market continues to mature as regulators oversee licensing, product safety, patient access, employee training, taxation, and industry compliance.

LAST UPDATED 9/4/2026 – Laws and regulations change frequently. Businesses should confirm current requirements with MSDH, MDOR, and qualified legal counsel.