Pharmacist Cliff Osbon of Madison became passionate about legalizing medical marijuana in Mississippi around six years ago when his mother, Joyce, had a terminal brain tumor and could not use cannabis to help alleviate her pain.
He recalled a conversation he and his brother, a pastor, had about marijuana when their mother was in the hospital. His brother asked if they could get their mother medical marijuana, and Osbon explained that they could not because it was illegal in Mississippi at the time—that their mother “just has to suffer” and not use cannabis to comply with the state’s laws.
“Well, that doesn’t seem right,” Osbon’s brother said, frustrated.
“It’s not right,” Obson replied. “It’s just the law, and the law is not always right.”
Their mother passed away months later, just five years shy of seeing Mississippi legalize medical marijuana for patients with certain qualifying conditions like terminal illnesses.
“It is horrible to watch someone, anyone, die suffering,” Osbon told the Mississippi Free Press. “It’s even worse when it’s someone you love.”
‘There Was An Unmet Need’
When voters passed Initiative 65 in 2020, Osbon jumped at the opportunity to open the first cannabis-testing facility in Mississippi.
After the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down Initiative 65 and the entire ballot initiative system in 2021, the Legislature passed and Gov. Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in 2022. The act created a new medical-marijuana program, albeit one that is more restrictive and allows fewer patients than the program voters passed. Over the past three years, cannabis investors worked to develop growing companies, dispensaries and testing labs.
Osbon is a co-founder and board member of the Mississippi Medical Marijuana Association and has been involved with the group since 2021. He organized a meeting in Jackson, Miss., about three years ago for investors and people who wanted to ensure safe medical marijuana was available for patients.
“There was an unmet need for testing,” he said.
At the same time, Mark and Leslie Henderson, who owned Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company until April 2023 when they passed the reins to Jason Anderson and