Last verified: May 2026
Two Vetoes, One Day
On March 26, 2026, Governor Tate Reeves vetoed both medical cannabis improvement bills passed by the Mississippi legislature in the 2026 session. Both bills had passed both chambers with veto-proof margins, making the vetoes a direct political confrontation rather than a routine policy disagreement.
HB 1152 — The Right to Try Medical Cannabis Act
HB 1152 (vetoed March 26, 2026): Would have allowed physicians to petition MSDH for patients with serious illnesses not on the qualifying-conditions list. The bill would have created a pathway for the program to expand by individual case rather than only by the § 41-137-17 administrative-petition process for adding entire conditions.
Passage:
- Senate: 34–17.
- House: 104–7.
- Filed by Rep. Lee Yancey.
Reeves objected to a Senate amendment that, in his words, "extended the ‘right to try medical cannabis’ to every person on the planet." The amendment loosened the non-resident reciprocity framework in ways the governor characterized as opening the program well beyond its medical-only legislative compromise.
HB 895 — The 2-Year Card / Concentrate Cap Removal Bill
HB 895 (vetoed March 26, 2026): Would have:
- Extended ID card validity from 1 year to 2 years.
- Removed THC caps on tinctures, oils, and concentrates (currently capped at 60% total THC).
- Eliminated the 6-month follow-up mandate.
- Adjusted caregiver background-check timing.
Reeves wrote that the bill "seeks to erode three important safeguards contained in the Act to minimize the potential diversion of medical marijuana for recreational purposes." The veto preserved the existing 1-year card cycle, the 60% concentrate cap, the 6-month follow-up requirement, and the existing caregiver background-check timing.
The March 30, 2026 Capitol Protest
A March 30, 2026 protest at the Capitol — featuring Rep. Yancey, patients, dispensary owners, and growers — pressed lawmakers to override the vetoes. The protest was attended by representatives of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association (MMMA / 3MA), the Mississippi Cannabis Trade Association (MSCTA), the Mississippi Cannabis Patients Alliance (MCPA), and Mississippi Patient Voices PAC.
The Override Math
Mississippi requires two-thirds in each chamber to override a gubernatorial veto. Two-thirds of the Senate (52 senators) is approximately 35 votes; two-thirds of the House (122 representatives) is approximately 81 votes.
- HB 1152: Senate passed 34–17 (one vote short of override threshold); House passed 104–7 (well above override threshold).
- HB 895: Original passage margins were similarly above override thresholds in the House but tighter in the Senate.
The Senate override math is the binding constraint. As of April 2026, override votes had not been scheduled before the legislative session adjourned. Override votes during a regular session require the bill’s sponsor to call for the override vote, and the practical politics of asking individual Republican senators to override a Republican governor on a high-visibility cannabis bill have proven difficult.
The Broader Reeves Veto Pattern
Reeves has used the veto more aggressively than recent predecessors:
- 2025: 8 vetoes total.
- 2026 (through April): 4 vetoes, with more expected before adjournment.
The 2026 cannabis vetoes are part of a broader Reeves posture of using veto authority to enforce executive policy preferences against legislative supermajorities of his own party. The pattern is contested politically — Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann (a moderate Republican counterweight) has been willing to question the governor’s foot-dragging without breaking from him publicly.
The Reform Implications
The 2026 vetoes confirm what the 2024 and 2025 sessions implied: any meaningful cannabis reform in Mississippi will require veto-override votes, and the political cost of those overrides keeps the program substantially as enacted in 2022. Even modest reforms — a 2-year card cycle, removal of concentrate THC caps, expanded compassionate-use pathway — have repeatedly required veto-proof legislative majorities only to be vetoed and not overridden.
For patients, this means the existing program structure (1-year cards, 60% concentrate cap, 30% flower cap, no home cultivation, no workplace protection, mandatory 6-month follow-up, 24 MMCEU/30-day cap) is the operative reality through at least 2026 and likely 2027.
Reading More
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