Anxiety ripples through the Tennessee cannabis industry when state lawmakers get involved but a new bill this year could put the business on more solid footing here, leaders said.
Industry opposition lined up against a bill during last year’s session of the Tennessee General Assembly. That bill threatened to ban all hemp-derived THC products like Delta 8 gummies if they contained more than 0.3 percent of THC on a dry weight basis, which was (and is) already the federal legal limit for such products.
Lawmakers explained that the bill was really an effort to regulate these products in Tennessee. At the time, they described a marketplace with no limits on THC in products and no packaging requirements to alert consumers.
A bill filed this year will do just this. Cannabis professionals said they worked with lawmakers on the regulations and believe it “will sustain a safe, legal marketplace for these products well into the future,” according to a blog post by Cultivate Tennessee, a hemp advocacy group.
The new framework does not redefine hemp. It does not ban any products. It does not change how hemp professionals get licenses to grow or sell hemp here.
The bill sets the buying age to 21. It outlaws driving vehicles under the influence of cannabis. It also adds a 5 percent privilege tax on product sales on top of local and state taxes.
The bill limits the amount of THC in a product to 25 milligrams. It also mandates all products available for sale in Tennessee to be tested after being manufactured for cannabinoids and any toxic materials.
“[Consumers] are going to notice that products are most likely going to be behind the counter and having to show an ID to purchase,” said Devin Aracena, co-owner of Canvast, a Nashville-based cannabis company and co-chair of Cultivate Tennessee. “They’re going to notice a lot of packaging updates on products. They’ll see child-resistant packaging updates on products and clearly stated potency.
“They’ll notice a different dosage. So, there would no longer be edibles that are over 25 milligrams per serving.”
Meticulous testing of products has always been a foundation for Gold Spectrum CBD, an East Tennessee company that grows cannabis, makes products, and sells it online and at its franchise retail stores called the Smoky Grass Station. Company founder Zack Green said the new bill would up restrictions and require everything to be registered with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, something not done now. The move could help remove some fly-by-night operators in the space, he said.
“There’s a lot of people that have gotten into this industry because they think of it as the ‘Green Rush,’ the next Gold Rush,” Green said. “They’re trying to quickly make a dollar and get out. … They try to cut costs and do everything as cheaply as possible and are not as quality conscious as we would like for them to be.”
Cheaper oils in the marketplace might have pesticides in them, he said, and might not be backed with certificates showing they’ve been properly analyzed. Some of the facilities might not be accredited or inspected by a lab certified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
Doing all of this is expensive, Green said, and some companies operating in Tennessee are “flying under the radar.” Without taking the necessary steps could put consumers at risk.
Aracena said the bill is a “great first step,” especially to create trust between the industry and lawmakers.
