Mississippi Medical Cannabis Practitioner Certification

Last verified: May 2026

Who Can Certify Patients in Mississippi

Under SB 2095, the following Mississippi-licensed practitioners may certify patients for MMCP enrollment, after registering with MSDH and completing the required training:

• Physicians (MD/DO) — full certifying authority. Only MDs and DOs may certify minors.
• Certified Nurse Practitioners (CNPs) — for conditions within their scope of practice.
• Physician Assistants (PAs) — for conditions within their scope of practice.
• Optometrists (ODs) — for conditions within their scope of practice (typically glaucoma).

VA physicians may discuss cannabis with patients but may not certify under MMCP — federal law treats cannabis as Schedule I and bars VA practitioners from making certifications. VA patients seeking MMCP certification typically work with a non-VA Mississippi-licensed practitioner.

The Training Requirement

• Initial training: 8-hour course on medical cannabis — pharmacology, qualifying conditions, certification standards, the regulatory framework, and the boundary between certification (state-lawful) and prescription (federally prohibited).
• Continuing education: 5 hours annually. SB 2095’s "extreme continuing medical education requirement" was a Mississippi-specific addition that exceeds many other state programs.

The Certification Visit Requirements

A certifying practitioner must:

1. Conduct an in-person assessment. SB 2857 (2024) added the home-bound exception and broadened telemedicine for follow-ups, but the initial assessment generally must be in person.
2. Establish a "bona fide practitioner-patient relationship" and diagnose the qualifying condition.
3. Believe the patient "would likely receive medical or palliative benefit" from cannabis.
4. Conduct a 6-month follow-up to evaluate effectiveness. HB 895 (2026) attempted to eliminate this requirement; Reeves vetoed.

The Access Gap — 35 of 82 Counties

As of August 2025, Henry Crisler of 3MA reported that 35 of Mississippi’s 82 counties had no certified medical cannabis practitioner — a significant access gap, particularly in the Delta and the Pine Belt. This means a patient in those counties must travel for the in-person assessment. Networks like Pause Pain & Wellness and Magnolia Cannabis Clinics operate statewide locations specifically to address the rural access gap.

Liability and Professional-License Considerations

Mississippi-licensed practitioners face several layers of risk in MMCP certification:

• State medical board. The Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure (MSBML) has not historically taken disciplinary action against MMCP-registered practitioners certifying within the § 41-137 framework, but the board retains enforcement authority for any practitioner who fails the bona-fide-relationship standard or fraudulent-certification standard.
• DEA / federal scheduling. Cannabis is federally Schedule I. Certification under state law is not a federal "prescription" (which would violate federal law) — it is a state-law-defined act. The DEA has not historically pursued state-MMCP-registered practitioners, but the Trump Executive Order 14370 (December 18, 2025) directing DEA rescheduling to Schedule III, if completed, would substantially reduce this gray area.
• Federal-employer practitioners. Practitioners employed by federal agencies (VA, military, federal hospitals) cannot certify; doing so is a federal-employment conflict.
• Hospital and health-system policies. Many Mississippi health systems — Baptist Health, North Mississippi Health Services, UMMC — have system-level policies on practitioner participation. Check with employer before enrolling.

Where Practitioners Register

MSDH operates the practitioner registration portal at mmcp.ms.gov. Practitioners who wish to certify must:

1. Hold an active Mississippi license to practice (in their respective discipline).
2. Complete the 8-hour MSDH-approved initial training.
3. Register with MSDH-MMCP and pay the required practitioner registration fee.
4. Complete 5 hours of MMCP-approved CME annually to maintain certification authority.

The MSMA / AMA Counter-Position

Notably, the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) filed amicus briefs supporting Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler’s Initiative-65 challenge in 2020. Those organizations have continued to take a cautious institutional posture toward expanding the certifying practitioner pool, which contributes to the modest 259-practitioner total relative to the patient population (roughly 262 patients per certifying practitioner). See religious conservatism / MSMA page.

Practitioner Networks Operating Statewide

• Pause Pain & Wellness — statewide locations including Hattiesburg, Jackson, Tupelo, Gulfport.
• Magnolia Cannabis Clinics — multiple locations.
• Independent Mississippi-licensed primary-care, pain-management, neurology, and psychiatry practices.

Reading the Statute

• Miss. Code Ann. Title 41 Chapter 137 — Medical Cannabis
• MMCP — Practitioner Portal