Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 69 - AGRICULTURE, HORTICULTURE, AND ANIMALS (§§ 69-1-1 — 69-55-9) › Chapter 25 - PLANTS, PLANT AND BEE DISEASES (§§ 69-25-1 — 69-25-223) › Article 4 - MISSISSIPPI HEMP CULTIVATION ACT (§§ 69-25-201 — 69-25-223) › Section 69-25-217 - Prohibitions

(1)
It shall be unlawful for any person or business entity to:
(a)
Violate this chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated under this chapter;
(b)
Fail to comply with a corrective action plan issued by the commissioner under Section
69-25-213(2)
;
(c)
Transport hemp or hemp materials in violation of Section
69-25-209
or rules or regulations adopted under this chapter; or
(d)
Cultivate or grow hemp with a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of more than three-tenths percent (0.3%) on a dry weight basis.
(2)
Any person or business entity that purposely, knowingly or recklessly violates this provision of this chapter relating to hemp production or processing shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction of the violation, shall be fined in an amount not to exceed Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or sentenced to imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year, or both such fine and imprisonment.
(3)
Notwithstanding subsection (2) of this section, if any person or entity purposely, recklessly or knowingly cultivates or grows hemp with a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration of more than one percent (1%) on a dry weight basis that person or entity shall be guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or a fine of not more than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), or both such fine and imprisonment.
(4)
For purposes of this section, the terms "purposely", "knowingly" and "recklessly" have the following meanings:
(a)
"Purposefully" means a person acts purposely with respect to a material element of an offense if:
(i)
The element involves the nature of his or her conduct or a result thereof, it is his or her conscious object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and
(ii)
The element involves the attendant circumstances, he or she is aware of the existence of such circumstances or he or she believes or hopes that they exist.
(b)
"Knowingly" means a person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense if:
(i)
The element involves the nature of his or her conduct or the attendant circumstances, he or she is aware that his or her conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and
(ii)
The element involves a result of his or her conduct, he or she is aware that it is practically certain that his or her conduct will cause such a result.
(c)
"Recklessly" means a person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he or she consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will result from his or her conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that, considering the nature and purpose of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to him or her, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a law-abiding person would observe in the actor's situation.
Added by Laws, 2020, ch. 413, SB 2725,§ 9, eff. 6/29/2020.