Medical Cannabis in Tennessee

Medical cannabis will be considered by the Tennessee General Assembly.

State Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, and state Rep. Ron Travis, R-Dayton, recently announced they will introduce comprehensive legislation to regulate access to medical cannabis.

The Bowling-Travis bill will be introduced formally within the next few weeks

Thoughtful regulatory controls on how cannabis products can be represented to the public, where and how the products can be sold and used, and prohibitions on conflicts of interests

Some Key Elements Of The Bill:

• A ‘FastTrack’ licensing system with statutory deadlines to kick off the process of incentivizing Tennessee residents and experienced companies to choose either a rural based operation with a dispensary or an urban one

• Establishing a self-funding commission responsible for regulating both patient access and the industry licensed to provided products for patients

• Allowing residents to obtain a medical card as long as they have been diagnosed with a condition on the approved list.  The card allows them to purchase legally

The Tennessee Medical Trade Association has endorsed the Bowling-Travis bill

Bowling said in a press release that she believes cannabis can be part of the solution to the nationwide epidemic of opioid overdose deaths

Polling across Tennessee during the last two years has shown that 80% of Tennesseans support access to medical cannabis.