Mississippis AG supports medical cannabis use

While a Mississippi mayor is suing the state over medical cannabis, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Secretary of State Michael Watson are on the side of the medical initiative. This comes as a surprise to many as both Fitch and Watson are Republicans. Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler originally filed the lawsuit in October, before medical cannabis was even passed, claiming that Initiative 65 would limit cities' ability to control where medical cannabis operations are built. Although the initiative passed with a significant number of votes in November, it still hopes it will be overturned. So far, however, it has not received much support from major actors in the state. The Office of the Attorney General argues in support of the Office of the Secretary of State against the lawsuit. Butler claims she has to stand upright because the initiative process is out of date as it requires the same number of signatures from five congressional districts. Mississippi no longer has five congressional districts; since 2000 they have four. The restructuring happened due to party disputes and the redrawing of the lines at the federal level. Therefore, saying that all five counties need the same number of signatures no longer works. "As a result, there are four congressional districts in Mississippi under federal decree for congressional elections, but five congressional districts exist under state law and can be used for anything but congressional elections," the prosecutor alleged in their argument.