How Mississippi Created a Medical Cannabis Program

Tyler Podcast Episode 57, Transcript

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Episode Summary

What happens when medical cannabis is approved and a state must quickly move to implement regulations? That’s where Kris Adcock, senior deputy of the Mississippi State Department of Health, found herself.

Kris is an accomplished administrator and proven leader within multiple Mississippi state government systems. She leveraged her 20+ years of experience in child welfare and health care administration to help address this challenge. Alex Valvassori, general manager for Tyler's Cannabis Licensing software, speaks with Kris to uncover steps she took to launch a medical cannabis program.

Transcript

Kris Adcock: If we could not have put a program in place as fast as we have been able to, and as efficiently as we've been able to, if we didn't have a good partnership with our technology partners.

Jeff Harrell: From Tyler Technologies, it's the Tyler Tech podcast, where we talk about issues facing communities today and highlight the people, places, and technology making a difference. My name is Jeff Harrell. I'm the director of content marketing for Tyler Technologies, and I'm glad that you joined me.

Well, today, we are looking at this challenge what happens when medical cannabis is approved, and a state must quickly move to implement regulations.

Well, that's exactly where Kris Adcock, who is the director of the Mississippi medical cannabis program found herself.

Kris is with the Mississippi State Department of Health and is an accomplished administrator and proven leader within multiple Mississippi state government systems. She leveraged her twenty plus years of experience to help figure this problem out.

Today, Alex Valvassori, who is Tyler's general manager for cannabis licensing, speaks with Kris to find out exactly how she did it. Without further ado, here is Alex's conversation with Kris Adcock.

Alex Valvassori: Hi, everyone. I'm Alex Valvassori, general manager for Tyler Technologies. Canvas licensing team. I'm joined today with Kris Adcock, director for Mississippi's medical cannabis program. Kris, thanks for being on today.

Kris Adcock: Absolutely, Alex. Glad to be with you.

Alex Valvassori: So I am really excited to jump in and talk about Mississippi's medical cannabis program. Kind of an interesting history here. I know this is something that people in Mississippi have been talking about for a while now. So I'd love to hear about how the program came about.

Kris Adcock: Oh my goodness, Alex. So a lot like a lot of other things here in Mississippi, it was really started as a grassroots effort. People in our state had loved ones that were affected by different illness, different conditions, and they really started to look for alternative treatment for their loved ones. And so about three to four years ago, people really started to get to come together around the issue.

So it really kicked off as a grassroots effort, like I said, and really turned into a movement that is turning into an industry in our state. Like other states, we initially had a constitutional amendment, and seventy four percent of our population voted for a medical Canada program in the state. Throughout that process, it was challenged in the court system, and ultimately our Supreme Court turned over the initiative process that brought medical cannabis to our state. So there were a lot of people who were very disheartened, really, at that point that the issue actually was taken up by our legislature this past legislative session, and members of our legislature started to craft a program from what was originally initiated sixty five. And many, many, many drafts later, it became the Mississippi medical cannabis at that we have today.

Alex Valvassori: Wow. Interesting. So it certainly has been a long and winding road for sure. And so when did when did you plug into the program? How did that all come about?

Kris Adcock: Uh-huh. So originally that came about We knew at the health department that we would be involved in the program in some way since it was going to be a medical program rather than a recreational program. So our state health officer at the time was doctor Thomas Dob, and he really started to have conversations with different members of different groups, really. He started to work with our medical association.

He started to work with our state board of health to really educate people on what was going on with this big policy shift that was happening in our state. So I I came to this agency after working about twenty years in health care administration and actually child welfare. And I've always done work around system development and building regulatory infrastructure.

And so I I thought that I could lend some of that experience to this new program and this new industry in our state.

Alex Valvassori: That's great to hear that you had that experience, Kris. I think so often these programs kinda come out of nowhere, and then everyone starts to scramble. And so I know the program is lucky to have you guiding on on those fronts.

And so, you know, of course, this all came about very quickly. Right? I think the legislature passed the law at the beginning of this year, and then there was a very short timeline to get things going. So walk us through what those first few weeks and months were like.

Kris Adcock: Yes. So the legislature originally passed the act. It was signed by our governor, actually, on February the second. And we had some very, very ambitious timelines that we were working under.

At the time, we had a hundred and twenty days to get the program, completely developed and up and running. So we definitely had to approach this in different phases and different stages. The program that we have today will grow and change, and it will not be the program that we have next year, probably.

So we we had started some policy development and some some rural development under the constitutional initiative effort, actually, because Like I said, we knew we would have a role in the process.

And we just took that work and fast forwarded it and moved into the legislative work. And so the minute that the bill was signed, we were reaching out to to you guys to help us with IT infrastructure and just fast track our rule making process.

Alex Valvassori: So it sounds like it was a little bit of a scramble then for those first couple weeks a lot to pull together in a very short period of time.

Kris Adcock: I kinda say we were moving like the Tasmania Devil at that point, trying to trying to get things done very quickly. We actually were fortunate in that our legislature really was in tune to the fact that there were gonna be some bureaucratic barriers that we needed to overcome. So we did get some, special exemption for some contracting that we knew we would have to do we got to expedite some rulemaking because we still were very keyed into the fact that we had to be transparent in our actions.

So all of the normal timelines that exist in our state for rulemaking and for contracting were just compressed into that process.

Alex Valvassori: As you guys have worked through all of this, you know, a lot has happened since that time back in February. I'm certainly excited to celebrate the fact that you guys you know, launch the program over the summer. You you now have licensees who licenses that have been issued applications that have been submitted all of that. So What went on over the summer now? And and kind of where are we now as we as we look towards the end of August?

Kris Adcock: Right. So We experienced growing pains early on because we were putting in place a program and bringing to the state and industry that would be a regulated industry in our state. And people were not, necessarily familiar with what that would look like. So there were there were points of anxiety, I would say.

There were probably even some points that we looked at each other and thought this can never happen in a hundred and twenty days. And, we're just stubborn enough that we were going to make it happen. So one of the key things that we did early is we started to talk to other states because we were the thirty plus state to put a medical program in place. So we really started to talk other states and started to see who the key players were in this industry and how we could engage with them very quickly.

That's one of the ways that we we found you guys to even We looked to what other states had in place and what was working well and wanted to build on that. One of the best pieces of advice, that I got early on was spend most of your time at this point on your business process and building your IT system, because we knew that the program would be very heavily driven by data also. So in order to make that work, we had to have the systems to accommodate that. Yeah.

Alex Valvassori: That that's fascinating. And I assume, Kris, along the way, you guys encountered CANNRA. And I mentioned CANNRA because they are a recent guest.

We had Jillian and Andrew on, members of the CANNRA team. And so are you guys members of CANNRA and and what's that been like?

Kris Adcock: We are, and that has been one of the best things that we did. We we found out about CANNRA early on and joined.

We reached out to Jillian, and Andrea was actually here in the state over the summer providing some testimony with our legislature.

So it has been an invaluable resource for us. If anyone is new to this industry and new to this space, that would be one of first things that I tell people to do is join CANNRA because you automatically are plugged into a network of state regulators who have walked, this walk, And they are very willing to share resources with you and very willing to say this is what works. But better yet. This is what didn't work sometimes.

So there's some invaluable lessons there.

Alex Valvassori: So, you know, speaking of which, Kris, you know, what have been some of those major challenges? As you look back on the last six months, what would you say are the top one or two challenges you guys had to overcome?

Kris Adcock: You know, the the first challenge was really the time, Alex.

Most states have a longer period to look and to study And and we just didn't have that luxury. And we had been doing doing that studying and doing that research, but we we found out very very quickly that you can't necessarily have enough human capital, enough people to make these as efficient. So we had to rely on our technology to make processes efficient. We have a system that does not rely on paper flips, however, And that's a little bit different here in Mississippi. People are used to to papers and forms and where do they deliver it? So that education and overcoming that initial, I guess, kinda culture shock has really been a growing pain for us.

Alex Valvassori: Like, you know, that lends itself to another question, and and that is what surprised you about all of this. Certainly, I'm I'm surprised to hear that there has historically been such a reliance on paper.

But are there other things that as you've gone through all of this, things that maybe caught you by surprise, things that you didn't expect that you'd encounter working through all of this?

Kris Adcock: You know, really coming from a from a background of of state government and from health care, this industry is completely fascinating to me. There is so much more technology and science that is associated with it than I ever imagined.

And to me, it's been very refreshing to see the passion that drives the people in this industry. And to me, that's very motivating.

On those days when we think, you know, we we're not sure how this is gonna play out or how this is going to to end. It's going back and looking at that and looking at the attitudes that people have and taking that as motivation.

That has been very surprising. To me.

Alex Valvassori: You know, that makes me curious, Kris. Uh-huh. How how have perceptions changed in the last few months. You know, I think most people think as Mississippi is a is a generally conservative state, Yeah. I certainly never thought, you know, way back in twenty fifteen when I got into this industry that Mississippi would be legalizing medical cannabis And so I'm sure at the beginning, right? There was probably all kinds of opinions. And now that program has launched, I'm curious to know, have you seen any changes in how the public perceives cannabis as medicine and more broadly just of of the program in general?

Kris Adcock: You know, initially, outside, I'd share your your thought. I never thought that we would be talking about the use of medical cannabis in Mississippi.

We are conservative state. So I I've been surprised about that. And we do have some people who are taking what I would call a wait and see approach We there are naysayers, but the overwhelming response I would say has been positive. People are cautiously optimistic about the program.

And I think that we'll see that continue to change. We're seeing that really education is is key. We have a good partnership with the, industry association. We have an excellent partnership with the patient alliance in our state And so I think we're gonna continue to see public perception evolve in Mississippi.

Alex Valvassori: That's great to hear. Now changing gears a little bit. You've mentioned technology a couple times throughout our conversation. And so I'd love to hear about what's been working well. And then I'd also love to see where maybe you're seeing opportunities.

Kris Adcock: You know, I think there's a lot of opportunity, around this industry, period, But where we're seeing that our technology is really working well. If we could not have put a program in place as fast as we have been able to and as efficiently as we've been able to, if we didn't have a good partnership with our technology partners. And I mean, everything from our people who are building our system to our analysts that are working through this. You know, I've been involved in other major system implementation, and those implementations, we've always to make a system fit a business process.

And for us, because this was brand new, We took a lot of the system and made the system components and workflows our business process. So that has been a huge opportunity for us.

And for me, personally, it's been very nice to have a working relationship with a technology company that is pretty relaxed and we can call up our our development team and say, hey, this is a problem. Help us think through how to fix it, and we get answers. And if we don't get them immediately, we get them shortly thereafter. And that's not always the case, and that's not always the level of customer service that you receive.

Alex Valvassori: That is great to hear, Kris. Well, we really appreciate the endorsement, and, we see a lot of, opportunity ahead. Right? It's amazing how we've seen our our clients grow over time. So we're excited to be a part of that journey. A topic we hear a lot about in the industry is social equity. And so I'd love to know kind of how your team is thinking about social equity and what that looks like in Mississippi.

Kris Adcock: So we we have a great team that really has various backgrounds. You know, I've got people on my team who have traditionally worked in healthcare. They've worked in communications.

They've worked in agriculture.

And so everyone comes to to the table with a different idea and a different philosophy sometimes.

But at the end of the day, we're really focused on access to medical cannabis for patients, but making sure that that access is safe. And safety is one of our first and foremost concerns So, really, for us, equity equates to access, both from an individual standpoint and from a business standpoint, One of the very smart things that was done early on is that smaller businesses in Mississippi have an opportunity to get into the end three just like some of our larger multi state operators.

So we have a tiered licensure system, and we even have some requirements that Mississippi have an advantage for a time period so that they could get into the industry in Mississippi.

From a a patient's standpoint, we have some reduced card fees, for people who are on fixed income, or maybe Medicaid beneficiaries or disabled veterans.

So the program doesn't just fund itself. The revenue generated from the program actually is returned to the state legislature so it can be appropriated to the legislative process rather than being earmarked for certain projects. So I think that early on, everyone was very focused on equity across the board, based from a business standpoint and from a a patient standpoint, and that translates into our everyday work.

Alex Valvassori: Well, it sounds like you guys have put a lot into that early on, which is great to hear. I think sometimes states don't have that benefit. Right? It's something that they stumble into later, and it's a lot of work to, to kind of come back to that. So it's great to hear that you guys have started on the right foot.

As you guys look to the future, what's next for Mississippi's medical cannabis program? And If you could talk to the governor or the legislature today, are there any fixes or things that you would ask for to help improve the program?

Kris Adcock: You know, I I have conversations most weekly with members of our legislature, and I always talk about our legislative wish list. That we're already working on. And it's funny that they're working on their own wish list as well. So we'll actually have yeah. Will actually have some meetings later in the fall, to compare notes, if you will, and look at what needs to be the legislative agenda really going forward. Because we know that over the next years, we're going to be improving legislation. We're going to be improving regulations.

And it's simply that we're learning more, as we go. And the industry as a whole is really pretty immature.

And as the industry develops, then we will develop, with it. So that's to me really exciting from a public policy standpoint.

Alex Valvassori: Is there one or two things at the top of your list, Kris, that you'd love to see come out of the next session?

Kris Adcock: I would love to see some work around further defining of our licensure tiers and our activities.

I would love to see some work around how we would reinvest that income that the program does generate and and have some some recommendations for that because I think there are opportunities if we're going to have a medical program to look at potentially how we could reinvest in in public health and even substance abuse prevention or things like law enforcement training. We're gonna see those needs arise as the program evolves.

Alex Valvassori: Well, I'm really excited to see where it all goes. I know in the mean time, you guys are very busy managing applications and licensees. The program is taking off like crazy.

So let's take a moment to speak to all those licensees that might be tuned in here today. What advice do you have for them as they navigate all of this? And what can they do to make your life easier as a regulator?

Kris Adcock: Oh, gosh.

You know, first When you look at our Mississippi, Mississippi medical cannabis act, it's an intimidating four hundred plus plus pages.

And no one wants to read that. But my first advice would be a read the law. Make sure that you have educated yourself.

Number two, make sure that you're educating yourself by reading the regulations. This is not something that you can come into and apply and expect to be successful if you have not educated yourself on the front end. So that would be my advice for people who are seeking to get in the industry, they may be thinking about applying.

But they also don't need to discount what their significant financial investment may be. This is not an industry, that is simple. It is complex. It is regulated.

They're gonna be costs that you don't anticipate, and you have to be prepared for those.

Alex Valvassori: So, Kris, we're nearing the end of our conversation here, but before we wrap up, what advice do you have for regulators who are who are new to this Obviously, you know, six months ago, you guys were really kicking things off here and getting started or just over six months.

As new states come along, right? There's still about ten states to go that haven't yet adopted medical cannabis program. So if you could talk to them What would be your words of wisdom to them?

Kris Adcock: I would say first and foremost, look at what other states have done, learn from their lessons, make contact with them. That was something that we did early on with reach out to other states. And people are more willing to share, in this industry than I have seen in other industries.

So make sure that you've done that. The Second thing that I would do is really look at similar industries that have been regulated for years. Look at those policy areas. For example, look at alcohol and tobacco, look at the use of manufacturing processes, even in food capturing. Look at some of those basics and those core foundational principles that they use, and don't be afraid to reach out. I can't stress that enough.

Alex Valvassori: Kris, thank you so much for being on with us today. We wish you in the program all the best. Thank you so much, Alex.

Jeff Harrell: Yes. Thank you, Kris, for that. And also for Alex for hosting that podcast episode, we know that cannabis regulations will be something more and more state are dealing with, so we really appreciate that conversation.

And I appreciate you for listening to the Tyler Tech podcast. We drop episodes just about every other week. So please subscribe so you'll be notified when the latest episode drops. We have lots of great episodes planned for the rest of twenty twenty two and on into twenty twenty three as we tackle some of the issues facing communities today.

Well, again, my name is Jeff Harrell. This is the Tyler Tech podcast. Thanks so much for listening. We'll talk to you soon.