The Mississippi Supreme Court rejected a final appeal by medical marijuana advocates to reconsider a landmark ruling in which the court struck down a voter-approved MMJ bill because of a technicality.
According to Mississippi Today, the high court on Thursday released a final decision in which it cited a time period last November when parties failed to act on an opportunity to intervene on the ruling.
The decision effectively marks the end of the road for legal appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court’s May decision to overturn a popular medical marijuana legalization ballot measure, which voters approved by a nearly 3-to-1 margin last year.
The high court found that backers violated a law requiring that signatures be gathered from five congressional districts in the state, even though Mississippi has had only four congressional districts since the 2000 Census.
Mississippi law governing ballot measures was simply never updated to reflect the change.
Meanwhile, Mississippi lawmakers have expressed some interest in passing a medical marijuana law of their own, though that wouldn’t happen this year unless the governor calls a special session of the Legislature.
