Mississippi
Mississippi right to address intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoids
- Just because a retail location sells these items doesn’t mean they are safe.
If you’ve recently been inside a convenience store in our state to buy a soda or snack, you may have noticed a plethora of items behind the counter, or a locked cabinet, that have colorful packaging and with names such as “Delta 8,” “THC-P,” “HHC,” and “THC-O,” among many others. Unbeknownst to most customers, these products contain what’s known as “Intoxicating Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids.” But just because a retail location sells these items doesn’t mean they are safe.
In 2020, Dr. Bill Gurley, a principal scientist in the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi (UM), along with his colleagues, published a study that analyzed some of these products being sold in our state. At the time, most of the available products being sold were touted as “CBD (cannabidiol),” a non-intoxicating compound found in cannabis. Undercover law enforcement agents purchased twenty-five of these products, which were sent to UM researchers for analysis. The results were alarming: only three products that claimed to contain CBD were within 20% of what the label claimed was in the product; three products contained delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (d-9 THC), a predominant, intoxicating compound found in cannabis; and three products contained no cannabinoid material whatsoever.
In another study published by UM in 2023, Dr. Mohamed Radwan and his colleagues looked at products containing delta-8 THC, an intoxicating compound found in trace amounts in cannabis. Since there are only trace amounts of delta-8 THC found in cannabis naturally, the manufactures chemically alter CBD to make delta-8 THC for the active ingredient in the products. This process of adding chemicals to create synthetic products such as the ones mentioned earlier (delta-8, THC-P, HHC, etc.) results in many byproducts that could be harmful when ingested. Furthermore, the manufacturers of these products often do not disclose what these byproducts are, nor the amount you are potentially ingesting. This study found several impurities in these products and great variability of their contents.
Some of the side effects of these products are anxiety, vomiting, dizziness, loss of consciousness, tremors, hallucinations, and rapid heart rate. The Center for Disease Control found that since these products have become widely available to the public, hospitalizations of children under 10 years old have skyrocketed as the result of accidental ingestions of cannabis edibles (gummies, cookies, etc.). The Mississippi Poison Control Center has seen similar instances of Emergency Room visits and hospitalizations, mainly due to children having access to these products a parent or guardian purchased and them thinking it was candy or a snack, then having a horrible side effect.
A reasonable question to ask is, “why are these products allowed to be sold in the first place?” In 2018, US legislators passed the Agricultural Improvement Act, commonly known as “The 2018 Farm Bill.” As we discussed earlier regarding the CBD study from 2020, when those products were obtained, most of the products were CBD-based. However, as businesses looked closely at the Farm Bill, a loophole was noticed that stated “derivatives” were also allowed to be sold. This may have been an unintended consequence of the bill’s language, but, nevertheless, companies started making these highly intoxicating products such as the ones we’ve discussed (delta-8, THC-P, HHC, etc.). These products fall outside the governance of the FDA and DEA, hence they are unregulated and able to be sold in gas stations, convenience stores, vape shops, etc.
This issue is not unique to Mississippi and the federal government realizes it must act to address it, but until then, states must take action to protect their citizens. Thankfully, Mississippi now has one of the most comprehensive solutions in the nation on the table. Representative Lee Yancey (District 74) has sponsored House Bill 1676, which addresses this issue, the main goal being consumer safety. By removing these products from the shelves of gas stations and vape shops and placing them under strict rules and parameters of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Program dispensaries, we can be sure of the products’ purity, correct dosage/labeling, and consistency, which is currently not the case with the products being sold in retail outlets today.
I commend Representative Yancey and his colleagues who have supported this bill, as Mississippi can lead the way on how to deal with this issue and other states can follow our example.
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A former federal attorney was arrested and charged with arson after a building and dumpster were set on fire Friday, Feb. 27, in the Fondren area of Jackson, authorities said.
Jackson Fire Department Chief of Investigations Charles Felton said firefighters responded around 12 a.m. Friday in reference to a reported building fire and dumpster fire at Yana Club of Mississippi located at 555 Hartsfield Street.
Felton said fire crews arrived and found two separate fires in the Fondren neighborhood that caused damage to the Yana Club and the dumpster.
No injuries were reported.
After the fires were extinguished, a fire investigator was called to the scene. Investigators spoke with Capitol Police, who had a suspect detained.
Felton said the Jackson Fire Department Arson Division arrested George McDowell Yoder III, a former federal attorney, and charged him with first-degree arson of Yana Club and third-degree arson of the dumpster.
In 2021, WDAM TV reported Yoder had been a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi from 2009 to 2011. Yoder also ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 2016.
According to a 2023 article by the Laurel Leader Call, Yoder was arrested in 2021 for residential burglary and faced multiple charges from 2021 to 2023. Yoder was also arrested in 2023 for arson charges, the outlet reported.
Documents from the Supreme Court of Mississippi also indicate that Yoder was admitted to the practice of law in the state in 1999 but later suspended in 2022 from practicing law for three years.
Court records show Yoder was found to be accepting fees from clients, abandoning them and then failing to deposit their retainers into a trust account. Yoder “commingled” his personal money with those of his clients and performed little to no work on a Madison County criminal case he was hired to resolve.
Jackson fire officials also said that a fire did not occur Friday morning at The Pig & Pint, a barbecue business located next to Yana Club.
Yana Club of Mississippi, a nonprofit organization, is described via their Facebook page as a “recovery community” that serves individuals seeking help with addictions.
The organization confirmed at 10:23 a.m. Friday via a social media post that the Yana Club building will be closed due to damages sustained from the fire.
“Due to the safety of our members, we will be closed through the weekend,” the organization stated. “We are working with [the] fire department and insurance to determine the best course of action. The building is currently deemed unsafe for meetings to be held. We will be in touch with updates when we have them.”
Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.
LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) – A world-renowned dance instructor from New York visited Laurel Thursday to conduct a special class and do some recruiting for a prestigious summer dance program in the Big Apple.
Melanie Person, who is co-director of the Ailey School in New York, taught a master ballet class Thursday morning at Laurel Middle School.
It’s part of a three-day residency in the Magnolia State, organized by the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in Meridian.
She’ll teach two other classes Friday in Meridian before hosting an audition Saturday for a prestigious summer dance program at the Ailey School.
“I typically tour in about six to eight cities in the U.S., and I recruit dancers to come to our summer intensive, so part of this weekend, in one of the classes, I will be accepting students to come to New York for our five-week summer intensive,” Person said.
“We accept the dancers we like, and we see if they are able to come. The decision to come to New York for the summer is a big undertaking for families, so we just hope that they can do it.”
Registration is required for that audition, which will be held at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience.
To do that, click HERE.
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Mississippi State has won plenty of different ways during this 15-1 start, but Wednesday night in Atlanta felt like one of those games where the Bulldogs reminded everyone why they’ve looked so steady all month.
It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t stress‑free, but the 8-3 win over Georgia Tech was the kind of road win that shows a team knows exactly who it is and what buttons to push when things get a little weird.
Alyssa Faircloth set the tone again, even on a night when she didn’t have her cleanest beginning. She gave up a game‑tying homer in the second, shrugged, and then basically disappeared Georgia Tech’s lineup for the next three innings.
Eight strikeouts in nine batters the second time through the order, back‑to‑back innings striking out the side. The only real hiccup came on another leadoff homer in the sixth, and by then she’d already done the heavy lifting.
And while Faircloth was settling in, the lineup did what it’s been doing all year: spreading the damage around.
Des Rivera wasted no time, jumping on the first pitch of the second inning and sending it out. When Georgia Tech tied it, Nadia Barbary answered immediately with a solo shot of her own. It wasn’t loud or flashy, but it was the kind of response good teams make without thinking.
The middle innings were more about pressure than power. Barbary worked a walk, Kiarra Sells split the gap for an RBI double, and Anna Carder did her job with a sac fly. Suddenly it was 4-1, and Mississippi State had the game exactly where it wanted it with Faircloth cruising, the lineup stacking quality at‑bats, and the defense staying clean.
The seventh inning, though, is where the Bulldogs turned a solid win into a comfortable one. Sells homered again, and then Rivera and Tatum Silva kept the inning alive long enough for Morgan Bernardini to drop the hammer. Her three‑run shot to center didn’t just put the game away; it capped off the kind of night she’s been stringing together for a week now. She’s 7‑for‑11 during her four‑game hitting streak and looks like a hitter who’s seeing everything in slow motion.
Peja Goold handled the final outs, picking up her second save and slamming the door on a Georgia Tech team that kept trying to make things interesting late.
What stands out most about this win isn’t the four homers or the 11 strikeouts or even the 15-1 record. It’s how routine it all felt.
Mississippi State went on the road, took a couple of punches, and never looked rattled. Rivera homered. Barbary homered. Sells homered. Bernardini homered. Faircloth dominated. Goold closed. It was the same formula, just in a different ballpark.
Now the Bulldogs head to Clemson for a weekend that should tell us even more about who they are. But if Wednesday night is any indication, they’re traveling with a lineup that can hurt you anywhere and a pitching staff that doesn’t mind carrying the load when needed.
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