Controlled substances; provide for automatic scheduling of certain substance if federal scheduling occurs., the official text

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2026 Regular Session

To: Drug Policy

By: Senator(s) Turner-Ford

Senate Bill 2056

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO AUTOMATICALLY SCHEDULE, ON THE STATE SCHEDULES OF
CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES, ANY PHARMACEUTICAL COMPOSITION CRYSTALLINE POLYMORPH
PSILOCYBIN THAT IS APPROVED BY THE UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
AND SCHEDULED BY THE UNITED STATES DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION; TO PROVIDE
THAT THE AUTOMATIC SCHEDULING SHALL BE EFFECTIVE FOR A CERTAIN TIME PERIOD; TO
AMEND SECTION 41-29-111, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DELETE OUTDATED LANGUAGE
RELATED TO COVID-19; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1.
Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, any pharmaceutical composition of crystalline polymorph psilocybin that is approved by
the United States Food and Drug Administration and is then scheduled by the
United States Drug Enforcement Administration shall be automatically scheduled
on the corresponding state schedule in Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121 and
shall be subject to the fines and penalties of that state schedule.  This
automatic scheduling shall be effective from the date that the drug is
designated on the federal schedule until the effective date of legislation
amending the corresponding state schedule or until the conclusion of the next
regular session of the Legislature, including the time period in which the bill
is subject to veto by the governor, whichever is earlier.

SECTION 2.  Section
41-29-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-29-111.  (1)  The
Commissioner of Public Safety shall administer this article and shall work in
conjunction and cooperation with the State Board of Pharmacy, county and
municipal law enforcement agencies, the district and county attorneys, the
Office of the Attorney General and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.  The
State Board of Health shall work with the bureau in an advisory capacity and
shall be responsible for recommending to the Legislature the appropriate
schedule for all substances to be scheduled or rescheduled in Sections 41-29-113
through 41-29-121.  In making a recommendation regarding a substance, the State
Board of Health shall consider the following:

(a)  (i)  The actual or
relative potential for abuse;

(ii)  The
scientific evidence of its pharmacological effect, if known;

(iii)  The state of
current scientific knowledge regarding the substance;

(iv)  The history
and current pattern of abuse;

(v)  The scope,
duration and significance of abuse;

(vi)  The risk to
the public health;

(vii)  The
potential of the substance to produce psychic or physiological dependence
liability; and

(viii)  Whether the
substance is an immediate precursor of a substance already controlled under
this article.

(b)  After considering
the factors enumerated in paragraph (a), the State Board of Health shall make
findings with respect thereto and issue a recommendation to control the
substance if it finds the substance has a potential for abuse.

(c)  If the State Board
of Health designates a substance as an immediate precursor, substances that are
precursors of the controlled precursor shall not be recommended for control
solely because they are precursors of the controlled precursor.

(d)  If any substance
is designated, rescheduled, or deleted as a controlled substance under federal
law and notice thereof is given to the State Board of Health, it shall
recommend the control of the substance under this article at the next session
of the Legislature.

(e)  (i)  Authority to
control under this article does not extend to distilled spirits, wine, malt
beverages, or tobacco as those terms are defined or used in the Local Option
Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, being Sections 67-1-1 through 67-1-91, and the
Tobacco Tax Law of 1934, being Sections 27-69-1 through 27-69-77.  It is the
intent of the Legislature of the State of Mississippi that the bureau shall
concentrate its efforts and resources on the enforcement of the Uniform
Controlled Substances Law with respect to illicit narcotic and drug traffic in
the state.

(ii)  The
controlled substances listed in the schedules in Sections 41-29-113 through 41-29-121
are included by whatever official, common, usual, chemical or trade name
designated.

(f)  The State Board of
Health shall recommend the exclusion of any nonnarcotic substance from a
schedule if such substance may, under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
and the laws of this state, be lawfully sold over the counter without a
prescription.

(2) * * *  Any drug that is
scheduled on the federal schedule for the purpose of preventing or treating
COVID‑19 is automatically scheduled on the corresponding state schedule
in Sections 41‑29‑113 through 41‑29‑121.  This
automatic scheduling is effective from the date that the COVID‑19‑related
drug is designated on the federal schedule until the effective date of
legislation amending the corresponding state schedule in the next regular
session of the Legislature.  [Deleted]

SECTION 3.  This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.