“Soon, it’s going to be weed smoke everywhere,” said Aaron Jones, a junior aerospace engineering major at Mississippi State University, after hearing news of a marijuana oil bill being passed.
Jones assumes the passing of a marijuana oil bill can and will open the door to other rights for marijuana in the future.
On March 27, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed House Bill 1231 that strives to legalize marijuana oil but under tightly controlled circumstances. The house voted 112-6, a positive result in light of the bill’s previous rejection.
Speaker of the Miss. House of Representatives Philip Gunn said Governor Phil Bryant has yet to provide his signature which would stamp the bill as law.
“This legislature process works through a piece by piece process,” Gunn said. “If the governor decides not to pass it, we go to a conference. Then we pass a conference report which is exactly where we are right now. The house has passed it, but I don’t think the Senate has signed off on it yet.”
With the progressive passing of HB 1231, many people question whether there is a possibility of decriminalizing marijuana in the future. Gunn denies this possibility.
“I doubt marijuana will be decriminalized in the future,” Gunn said. “It doesn’t fit with the sentiment of the people in Mississippi. I don’t think we will get the vote within the Senate to do that.”
According to HB 1231, the marijuana oil will mainly contain cannabidiol oil (CBD), which means it is a processed cannabis plant extract that contains more than 15 percent of CBD and only less than half of one percent of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). 
The bill states the oil may only be obtained on the prescription of a physician who is licensed to practice in Mississippi and only given to a patient under the authority of the physician. 
The bill also states Mississippi State University’s Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station will be utilized for the research aspect of the growth of the plants. The National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi and the Department of Pharmacy Services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., will also participate and are the only entities authorized to produce or possess (CBD) for research.
Senator Josh Harkins of the Miss. House of Representatives said he has been pushing the bill forward for several years, a result of witnessing families struggle with children who have seizures. 
“This is something I never imagined I would be doing,” Harkins said. “Once I educated myself, I realized this is not about someone getting high.”
Harkins said the marijuana oil will serve to cease seizures, ease multiple sclerosis, help increase cancer patients’ appetite, nausea and will be used for other anecdotal purposes.
“It’s a two-prong approach. I’m interested in CBD oil and its effects on seizures. You would be surprised how many people have reached out to me looking for ways to help their children,” Harkins said. “We will be the 23rd state to sign this into law if it happens. It will be a major adjustment in the quality of life for a child that suffers every day from severe seizures.”
According to Harkins, the oil will not get and individual high due to the low levels of THC and higher levels of CBD within the oil.
“This isn’t even really medical marijuana,” Harkins said. “It should really be called CBD oil because that is the main ingredient within the oil, and it is the ingredient that will be functioning. What people don’t realize is methamphetamines and toxins are more available to patients in hospitals, and there are different derivatives of awful drugs that are available to our people today. This oil is something that will help.” 
If the marijuana oil bill is legalized, Jones said he feels Mississippi should push even more forward with the decriminalization of marijuana.
“I think the bill should be legalized, especially if it’s for medicinal purposes,” Jones said. “I mean, if it’s going to help stop seizures, then yes, that’s a good idea. I mean, but there is a con to everything. I feel like people will use it in a negative way, and they will find a way. Although I dislike marijuana, I feel like it should be legalized because it would save a lot of money on drug enforcement and a lot of good people would not have to go to jail over something as simple as marijuana.”
Jones said it has been proven not to be fatal, and entities that can be sold are being sold every day.
 “It’s been proven that it does not kill people. Cigarettes kill millions of people a year, and it’s still legalized,” Jones said. “So, I say the government should just legalize marijuana and just tax it. Tax it heavily. They might as well make money off of it. Turn a negative into a positive.”