Mississippi
‘The state threw them to the wolves’: Health department struggles to manage massive medical marijuana program
![‘The state threw them to the wolves’: Health department struggles to manage massive medical marijuana program ‘The state threw them to the wolves’: Health department struggles to manage massive medical marijuana program](https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/3X0A3517-scaled.jpg?fit=2560,1687&ssl=1)
Behind closed doorways, Mississippi’s eight-person medical hashish workplace is struggling in opposition to its workload.
The Well being Division workplace charged by the Legislature with working Mississippi’s new medical marijuana program is steeped in disorganization: brokers not often go to cultivation websites, software backlogs attain a whole bunch deep, and lags in communication with licensees typically stretch on for weeks, a Mississippi Right this moment investigation discovered.
Enterprise house owners really feel annoyed, unheard and anxious that the thousands and thousands of {dollars} they invested — and the tens of 1000’s they paid in charges to the state — might go up in smoke.
“The state threw them to the wolves,” cultivator Joel Harper stated of the fledgling marijuana workplace. “They need to have paid the cash to herald professionals, even a third-party marketing consultant. As an alternative, they’re sending individuals out into the hashish world who don’t know about something hashish.”
On the heart is a handful of employees, tasked with unrolling a large program with out sufficient staffing to function effectively. Cultivators say after they do hear again from the workplace, the messages are incomplete or inconsistent – particularly in terms of how they assemble their farming amenities.
And that’s in the event that they hear again in any respect. The workplace already has mountains of unprocessed paperwork.
As of the second week of January, 277 work allow purposes sat in a queue ready to be processed, in line with copies of the workplace’s information obtained by Mississippi Right this moment. May-be hashish employees can’t begin their jobs with out permits. One other 995 sufferers had but to to be informed whether or not or not they’ve been accredited for his or her dispensary playing cards.
Three dozen companies had their very own purposes caught, together with virtually 40 different medical practitioners, the information present.
In a press release to Mississippi Right this moment, division of well being spokesperson Liz Sharlot acknowledged the backlogs.
“We’re working with the MMCP (Mississippi Medical Hashish Program) Licensing Director and the staff on tips on how to put extra environment friendly processes in place,” she stated.
Even when the workplace employed new employees – rising from 4 to eight in current months – little was finished to coach them on the regulation and the business, an worker of the well being division informed Mississippi Right this moment. The worker spoke on the situation of anonymity out of concern of repercussions.
The well being division stated in October, when Mississippi Right this moment first reported the backlogs, it was working to fill 25 extra positions. That has but to occur.
The well being division employee stated a lot of the disorganization stems from the workplace’s former director Kris Jones Adcock.
The Division of Well being didn’t reply questions associated to plans to extend staffing ranges or what medical marijuana-related coaching their present staffers acquired.
“The individuals of Mississippi deserve higher,” the employee stated.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/3X0A3148.jpg?resize=780%2C497&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1)
Throughout one five-week interval, Adcock held three jobs concurrently inside the well being division: the hashish function, the top of a home violence workplace, and a promotion to a department-wide function as assistant senior deputy.
The well being division didn’t reply to questions in regards to the results managing three positions could have had on her capacity to run the hashish workplace. Adcock now holds just one department-wide function: Assistant Senior Deputy to the Senior Deputy.
Adcock introduced two weeks in the past that the workplace’s lawyer, Laura Goodson, could be the performing director.
The well being division worker additionally stated Adcock set a tone of rushed processes and absentee management that has left the marijuana workplace in clean-up mode.
“There was no due diligence on a number of the purposes,” the employee stated. “A few of it was her knee-jerk response to get stuff out the door after it (the backlog) constructed up. As an alternative of an orderly course of, it was simply rushed.”
Emails obtained by Mississippi Right this moment present that it wasn’t simply cultivators struggling to listen to again. The pinnacle of a lab testing facility additionally expressed frustration.
“The entire lack of communication is simply not possible any longer,” Speedy Analytics director Jeff Keller wrote to Adcock on Dec. 16. “I’m begging you to please simply identify the time on Monday and I’ll make it work.”
A month later, one in all Keller’s staff despatched his personal determined plea to the workplace.
“I’m looking for out after I’ll be capable to begin working there,” he wrote about his job on the lab. “My background verify was cleared on December fifteenth … I’ve left a number of messages however haven’t acquired a response.”
The CEO of check facility Steep Hill, Cliff Osbon, despatched his personal e mail on Jan. 13 on behalf of 4 staff who nonetheless wanted their work permits so they may start work and the lab might begin testing marijuana.
Neither testing lab responded to Mississippi Right this moment’s request for a remark.
Zack Wilson, a micro-grower in Potts Camp, stated he had a employee ready greater than two weeks on a piece allow.
“You ship an e mail. Wait two weeks. E mail once more,” Wilson stated. “You simply sit and wait. I do know they’re brief staffed, however come on guys.”
![](https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/3X0A3456.jpg?resize=780%2C520&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1)
Cultivators say unanswered questions have led to a murky-at-best understanding of how a number of the laws are being interpreted and enforced.
That’s bubbled up with the usage of so-called “tailored greenhouses,” placing already aggressive cultivators extra at odds. The laws name for no out of doors rising, a strong roof, everlasting partitions and slab foundations.
Within the early days after the regulation was handed, Harper, the top of Como-based Pharm Grown Canna Firm, stated officers made it clear to business hopefuls that greenhouses wouldn’t be accredited as rising amenities. So he, like many others, invested cash in renovating a big warehouse that might depend on synthetic lights.
In the previous couple of months, he’s seen less expensive greenhouse-style buildings popping up with the well being division’s approval.
Harper and others who adopted the invoice’s creation intently say greenhouses go in opposition to the spirit of what legislators supposed.
The talk comes all the way down to phrase definitions that aren’t spelled out within the regulation itself. If the invoice doesn’t permit any “out of doors” rising, that ought to imply the construction can’t make the most of the solar, some argue. The greenhouses have clear-plastic roofs to make use of a mixture of solar and synthetic mild. If the power must have a strong and safe roof, clear plastic shouldn’t be permitted, in line with some interpretations.
Cultivators like Wilson don’t see it that approach.
“The roof actually isn’t product of liquid or gasoline,” he stated. “Plastic is a strong.”
Wilson stated his website plan, together with the supplies he was utilizing, have been all accredited by the well being division when he handed in his software. He was given his cultivation license in August, in line with public information.
One other cultivator, Jason McDonald, is constructing his personal greenhouse below the corporate identify SADUJA. He acquired his license on Dec. 22. He stated his roof is 2 layers of clear plastic. He has screened-in shutter home windows, a cement basis and plumbing. McDonald runs a tea farm. He’s used to assembly laws and coping with paperwork and hopes to start out rising marijuana by the tip of the month.
Mississippi Right this moment additionally obtained paperwork Adcock signed off on the location plan, together with a hand-drawing the place the power was labeled “greenhouse.”
“I emailed them and requested: ‘Will this greenhouse we’re planning to construct meet regs?” McDonald recalled. “They got here again and stated: ‘you want to learn the laws’ so, I quoted the laws and stated ‘what’s the ruling on this?’ and so they stated ‘you want to learn the laws.’ I added the precise subsection, after which by no means obtained a solution again.”
The phrase greenhouse, he stated, can summon one thing totally different relying on the cultivator. He, like others, agrees Mockingbird Hashish ought to have been cited for its greenhouse that was below scrutiny within the fall as a result of it had roll-up sides, not everlasting partitions.
Mockingbird additionally constructed a large state-of-the-art warehouse as its primary cultivation website.
“I’ll inform you we haven’t finished something we didn’t open up to the Division of Well being and in our software,” Mockingbird CEO Clint Patterson informed Mississippi Right this moment in October.
Harper and different warehouse operators don’t blame the small companies for constructing greenhouses — they’re cheaper to assemble and run, resulting in considerably larger revenue margins. They blame the state for approving them.
“We would like them to succeed,” Harper stated of greenhouse growers. “We simply need them to do it in the best way all people else needed to.”
The main authors behind the invoice that created the medical marijuana program couldn’t be reached by Mississippi Right this moment after repeated requests for remark. Rep. Lee Yancey stated within the fall that it was the well being division’s job to interpret the foundations, and if the statutes weren’t clear sufficient, it might be addressed within the Legislature.
Sharlot, the well being division spokesperson, stated it didn’t approve a mannequin for greenhouses and pointed to the “laws that specify the bodily necessities for a cultivation facility.”
“The MSDH met and continues to satisfy its statutory necessities because it did with the aggressive timelines in creating the MMCP,” she stated.
On Jan. 11, Adcock introduced her really helpful modifications to hashish laws earlier than the board of well being hoping for the members’ swift approval.
Public commenting concerning updates to the laws have been open for lower than every week, ending the day earlier than Christmas Eve. It obtained about 150 feedback, Adcock informed the board.
The top outcome was a thick stack of paper delivered to every board member fewer than two days earlier than the assembly.
“To get 1,000 pages, lower than 48 hours earlier than our assembly, it’s virtually not possible to assessment to know what we’re actually doing,” stated Jim Perry, the top of the board’s hashish committee.
Adcock’s proposed modifications lined every little thing from batch sizes for testing as to if a cultivation license might cowl a couple of rising area below a single license.
Through the assembly, Perry stated he wasn’t snug with passing modifications with out time to assessment them and ask questions. State Well being Officer Dr. Daniel Edney apologized to the board for the ream of paper and the shortage of discover. He promised it wouldn’t occur once more.
“Hashish is particular and distinctive and must be closely vetted,” Edney stated on the assembly.
Adcock went over a number of the regulation modifications she stated have been probably the most “emergent,” however in the end the board selected to not act.
Following the assembly, Perry informed a Mississippi Right this moment reporter the committee course of was created so “we are able to hear from individuals and be capable to make well-informed and never rushed choices.”
A committee assembly in regards to the laws has been scheduled for Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.
With the fixed flood of candidates, strapped-for-time staffers aren’t making common website visits, in line with cultivators and people with inside information of the workplace. Meaning growers can get their provisional four-month licenses prolonged, start rising, end batches and have them examined and despatched to market with out having ever met an agent in particular person.
Onsite visits are required for a renewal of a license, however not for shifting a provisional license to a everlasting one, in line with the well being division. When requested in regards to the frequency of agent visits, Sharlot emphasised that the workplace is remotely monitoring all cultivators with the seed-to-sale monitoring program.
In the meantime, the 163 licensed dispensaries are eying the variety of sufferers – Sharlot stated 1,732 as of Monday – who’ve licenses to buy medical hashish. They’re anxious it gained’t be sufficient to maintain a enterprise after months paying lease with out income.
The division of well being employee who spoke to Mississippi Right this moment stated at any time when they make a dent within the affected person queue, it doesn’t take lengthy to climb again over 1,000.
The well being division says it has licensed a complete of 73 cultivators; 12 processors; 4 waste disposal corporations; 9 transportation corporations; three testing labs; 151 medical practitioners; and 975 employees with permits.
It’s a continuing battle to maintain up.
![](https://newspub.live/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/np-logo.png)
Mississippi
How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff
![How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff How Mississippi State football is preparing for Arizona State weather, late kickoff](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/03/PNAS/75060541007-usatsi-24129028.jpg?auto=webp&crop=5472,3078,x0,y0&format=pjpg&width=1200)
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is preparing to play a team that, at least through one game, looks vastly improved from last season.
Coach Jeff Lebby admitted on Monday, and Bulldog players have noticed it too after Arizona State (1-0) thumped Wyoming 48-7 in its opener.
MSU (1-0) must also factor in the late kickoff that is scheduled Saturday (9:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Mississippi is hot, but so is Arizona — a different kind of hot, too.
Modifications and remedies are being made, such as the team leaving Starkville on Thursday instead of how it normally would on a Friday for a Saturday game.
“For our guys, just knowing exactly what we are getting into,” Lebby said. “We continue to talk about that through yesterday and this morning and (are) having those conversations to understand what it’s going to look like late in the week. We got to do a great job from a preparation standpoint of how we are hydrating, how we are eating and how we are resting to give us the ability to go on the road on this flight and be able to be at our best Saturday night.”
Just this week, Phoenix broke a record with its 100th straight day of 100-degree temperatures. According to AccuWeather, the high on Saturday in Tempe will be 107 degrees with a low of 86. The temperature should dip to around 91 near kickoff with a humidity of 24%.
“Coach Lebby has already been harping on that,” tight end Justin Ball said. “We’ve already been hydrating and making sure we are getting rest every single day. We leave on Thursday, so we already talked about the plan to make sure we are hydrating the entire plane ride there, making sure when we get there we get acclimated as quickly as you can and just staying together. Making sure we’re focused, make sure we keep the goal first and then execute the game plan.”
MORE: Jeff Lebby says Mississippi State football didn’t put on a good enough show. Here’s how he’s wrong
Mississippi State played well the last time it played in Arizona
The Bulldogs played Arizona in Tucson two seasons ago. They squandered a pedestrian Wildcats team 39-17. Kickoff for that game was at 8 p.m. PST though the temperature was 84 degrees at game time.
Not many players remain on Mississippi State’s roster from that 2022 season. But the ones who are, like linebacker Nic Mitchell, can benefit from the experience and also share it with teammates.
“We know it’s going to be a long flight, so we know we got to be hydrated,” Mitchell said. “It gives people experience that have done it before and they can tell the young guys how it’s going to be in the flight, how you got to hydrate and stuff like that.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
Mississippi
Playing for Mississippi State not an option for Arizona State back Kyson ‘Sipp’ Brown
Arizona State forces 3 turnovers in win over Wyoming to start 2024
All offseason, coach Kenny Dillingham preached getting turnovers. Forty seconds into the season’s first game, the defense produced its first one.
Sophomore running back Kyson Brown is one of the faster players on the Arizona State football team. But Brown seems to have a little more pep in his step this week. Why? Well, the Sun Devils (1-0) are set to take on Mississippi State (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Sure an SEC opponent is enough to get any athlete fired up. But the 6-foot, 200-pounder hails from Tupelo, Mississippi, which is where he got his nickname, Sipp. Tupelo is 67 miles north of the Mississippi State campus in Starkville that Sipp has visited a handful of times.
“I have family, growing up they were all Mississipp State fans and some Ole Miss fans,” he said. “Some of my family are debating whether they want to cheer for me or not. It’s going to be good. A lot of hometown friends. Got a couple guys I went to high school with there. It’s going to be good seeing those guys and hopefully, we compete at a good level and get the W.”
Brown, a mechanical engineering major, is enrolled in ASU’s Barret honors program, He emerged as one of the team’s most improved players. He saw some time on special teams as a true freshman in 2023 and has set himself up for a bigger role, although the ASU backfield has a lot of depth.
In the last week’s 48-7 win over Wyoming, Brown pitched in with six rushing attempts for 25 yards and two receptions for 73 yards. His 68-yard touchdown reception was the longest play from scrimmage that ASU had on the night.
“It felt amazing just to get back in the end zone again,” Brown said. “You come out of high school, you know I’m used to being in the end zone every game, all the time. That play, I knew — once I made the first guy miss — I knew I wasn’t going to let anybody catch me.”
Brown lived in Mississippi until moving to Lancaster, Texas, outside of Dallas, after his sophomore year of high school. He sat out junior year after the transfer. As a senior he averaged 9.5 yards per carry, finishing with 707 yards and 11 touchdowns on 74 carries while adding 14 receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
Sitting out his junior year hurt his recruiting, but he still had notable offers from Purdue, Missouri and Houston. The balance of his options were lower-profile schools. Mississippi State didn’t offer.
He is happy with the end result. A place on the ASU football roster. In the offseason, he worked on his agility, flexibility and catching the ball, which was evident in his recent scoring play.
“We all have the big-play potential,” he said of his fellow running backs. “I feel my role is to make plays, wherever they put me be able to perform.”
Mississippi
Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why
![Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why Report shows Mississippi Legislature retirement reforms this year aren’t effective. See why](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/04/30/PJAM/73515915007-tcl-legislature-06.jpg?auto=webp&crop=2999,1687,x0,y100&format=pjpg&width=1200)
Lawmakers, PERS director agree they must work together in the future
How to plan for retirement using an online calculator
Retirement calculators can give you an idea of when you’ll financially be able to retire.
Problem Solved
State lawmakers will need to readdress concerns about the Public Employment Retirement System of Mississippi in 2025 if it is to remain viable long term, according to a July study.
Legislative actions in the 2024 Session to reduce public employer contribution rate hikes and increase state funding are not enough to address billions in unfunded future benefits to retirees, according to a report released by the Legislature’s third-party watchdog group, the Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review Committee.
Projections show the state’s retirement plan being less than 50% fully funded by 2047 and having $25 billion in liabilities. According to several municipal leaders who spoke to the Clarion Ledger earlier this year, the legislative move from lawmakers in the past session should save public employers from cutting positions and raising taxes to keep and hire more public employees.
“Change in approach for increasing the employer contribution rate, in addition to the one-time funds transfer, reduces the plan’s projected future funded ratio from 65.5% to 49.9%,” the report reads. “…The PERS plan is currently expected to be at a lower-funded level in the future than it currently is today.”
PERS Executive Director Ray Higgins told the Clarion Ledger he wasn’t surprised by the report’s findings.
“The PEER analysis seems to be an accurate report and generally reconciles with our information,” Higgins said. “Also, the legislative action from last session appears to be a short-term solution.”
While the report does not list out any specific recommendations for lawmakers this coming year, it says continued work will be necessary to fix the retirement system that has 118,000 retirees receiving benefits and 147,000 active members paying into the system.
In 2023, the PERS governing board, made up of mostly elected members, as advised by financial actuaries who watch over the state’s retirement plan, passed a rate increase on public employers, such as cities, counties and school districts from 17.40% to 19.90% that was to take effect July 1. The rate would have continued to increase to 22.4% by 2027.
In the 2024 Session, the Legislature passed two bills. Senate 3231, prohibits the PERS Board’s plan to gradually increase the employer contribution rate and replaces it with a plan to increase to 19.90% over the next five years in 0.5% annual increases. SB 3231 also takes the board’s only regulatory power to increase rates and puts it in the hands of the Legislature.
SB 2468 enacts a one-time transfer of $110 million of capital expense funds into the PERS trust.
More on PERS bill MS Legislature passes bill restricting state retirement board’s authority
Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann’s Deputy Chief of Staff Leah Rupp Smith told the Clarion Ledger efforts Hosemann helped push forward that resulted in those bills’ passage led to a potentially more stable retirement system.
“To avoid this calamity while developing a future solution, the Legislature adopted a less-aggressive employer increase,” Smith wrote via email. “We are now informed the plan has a projected future funding ratio of 65.5% as of 2047, as compared to 48.6% projected one year ago.”
Republican House Speaker Jason White’s Communications Director Taylor Spillman did not reply to several emails requesting White’s comments on the report.
What are the big problems?
Higgins previously said the ratio of retirees to active members has seen a reverse trend since 2013, when there were 93,000 retirees and 162,000 active members. This increases the unfunded liability of the system as fewer people take jobs in government, reducing active members and more people retire, increasing the funding obligation of PERS.
The other issue lies with projections for the retirement plan’s future if state lawmakers decide not to take action in the years to come.
“While the ($110 million) funding for the first year is comparable, each year in the future could potentially see a greater deviation in expected employer contribution revenues for the PERS plan,” the report reads. “This deviation does not immediately constitute a problem for the PERS plan; however, careful evaluation of the plan’s future liabilities and funding needs will be necessary to ensure the sustainability of the PERS plan.”
Are there any solutions?
Higgins and Smith both said future work on PERS is still a top priority.
Higgins specifically mentioned a new retirement benefits package that could be offered to new public sector employees, which the PERS board has called tier 5.
“The Board has previously recommended a tier 5 for new employees to help better sustain PERS in the future and is currently considering what may be included or resubmitted in next year’s legislative package,” Higgins said.
Read about new Medicaid program Mississippi Medicaid prenatal care access program still awaiting federal approval. Why?
Earlier this year, Hosemann told the Clarion Ledger he wanted to see evidence that a new tier of benefits could help maintain the retirement system long term. Smith did not confirm whether Hosemann’s office is currently studying that idea in the legislative off season, but she did say the Legislature is looking at several ideas.
“The Legislature is exploring any option for a more viable plan,” Smith said. “The Lt. Governor continues to be committed to fulfilling current employee and retiree benefits, including the cost-of-living adjustment for these individuals.”
Grant McLaughlin covers state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
-
Politics1 week ago
Trump sets intense pace with campaign events as questions swirl about Harris' policy positions
-
News1 week ago
Former national security adviser McMaster says he won’t work for Trump again
-
World1 week ago
Who is Telegram CEO Pavel Durov? What to know about his arrest in France
-
Science1 week ago
How much more water and power does AI computing demand? Tech firms don't want you to know
-
World1 week ago
Commission mandarin flags convergence of digital with industry
-
World1 week ago
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 915
-
World1 week ago
Swiss court convicts two executives of embezzling $1.8bn from 1MDB
-
Movie Reviews1 week ago
Slingshot (2024) – Movie Review