Pike County supervisors indicated Thursday that they aren’t opposed to allowing Mississippi’s sprouting medical marijuana business to take root in the area, but one supervisor bristled at a prospective grower from Louisiana’s insistence over allowing it.
While they didn’t give an explicit yes or no answer on the issue, supervisors said they supported “the will of the people.”
“Nobody on this board said we’re against it,” board president Jake Gazzo said.
Gov. Tate Reeves recently signed a bill making Mississippi the 37th state to allow medical marijuana. Local governments that want to ban the business have until May 1 to vote to do so, otherwise there’s no prohibition.
The legislation came after a 2020 ballot initiative in which 74% Mississippi voters and 75% of Pike County voters approved the legalization of medical marijuana. The Mississippi Supreme Court last year deemed the initiative invalid on a technicality, which sent the issue back to the Legislature.
“When y’all to make a decision, I want y’all to think about one thing: The 74% of people who voted for this,” Kain Grove said.
Supervisors indicated they intend to.
“We’re with the will of the people. The State of Mississippi voted and that’s where we stand,” Gazzo said.
“We listen to our people,” Supervisor Sam Hall said.
In his first appearance before the board last month, Grove said the county would stand to benefit from the economic development aspect of medical marijuana.
Sheriff James Brumfield, who was not in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, said last month that he opposed it, fearing the potential for legal medical marijuana to end up on the black market.
“I know the sheriff is against it. Every sheriff in America is against this … but the will of the people is changing,” Grove said.
As for law enforcement’s opposition, “they started that war on drugs. They are never going to turn their back on it,” he said.
Supervisor Robert Accardo, who moved here from Covington, La., said he’s not opposed to people from Louisiana having an interest in Pike County’s business.
“But I’m insulted that you would come up here not once but twice and lecture us about what we ought to do here in Pike County,” he said to Grove. “I don’t know if you think we’re a bunch of hicks or hayseeds or something, but I’m going to be very frank with you: I’m going to listen to the people of Pike County and I don’t need any outside influence to help me make a decision.”
Accardo asked Grove what his interests were in Mississippi’s medical marijuana market, and Grove said he would like to grow it and sell it to dispensaries elsewhere in the state.
“I’d like to grow it in a warehouse if y’all see that fits,” he said, adding that he believed the operation would add eight jobs paying $17 or $18 an hour.
Accardo wasn’t favorable to Grove’s plan.
“We have two different business plans for Pike County. My business plan is to see how many dollars we can bring into Pike County and your business plan is to see how many dollars you can take out of Pike County,” he said.
Looking to be a wholesaler rather than a retailer, Grove said his business model would still generate money for Pike County.
“I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to take revenue out of Pike County because I’m not,” he said.
