T. J. Ramsey went swimming this summer.
That’s no small feat for the Nashville-area fourth grader. He cannot walk and has cerebral palsy that gives him epileptic seizures. Doctors removed a medical tube from Ramsey this summer, too. His mother, Holly, told lawmakers Friday that “life is so much better.” Then, she began to cry.
“If I would have known that, I would have moved,” Holly Ramsey said, fighting back tears. “I did not know that [medical cannabis] would make it that much better for him.”
Holly and T.J. Ramsey testified Friday before the second meeting of the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission. Holly Ramsey has been advocating for medical cannabis legalization in Tennessee as early as 2019.
Two years before that, according to a News Channel 5 story at the time, Holly Ramsey began giving her son CBD and saw dramatic improvements she was not seeing from the various medications he was taking.
Holly and T.J. spoke to the state House committee in this year’s legislative session as they debated legalizing medical cannabis in Tennessee. The Tennessee General Assembly and Gov. Bill Lee cracked the door on cannabis here with a law that legalized a small amount of THC to be sold to qualifying medical patients, and established the Tennessee Cannabis Commission.
That board is now setting up what Tennessee’s cannabis program will look like. However, the program, according to the law that established the commission, will not be active until the federal government removes cannabis from the Schedule I. That category is home to drugs with no medical use, according to the government, and high potential for abuse. Cannabis is there alongside heroine, ecstasy, LSD, and peyote.
Ramsey argued the medical cannabis she gets for her son does have a medical use. His seizures — once up to 30 per day — have fallen into the single digits. When she first tried cannabis for T.J., he did not have a seizure for two weeks; “it was amazing,” she said.
When asked what she wanted from state officials, her message Friday was simple, “we need to have medical cannabis in this state.”
I have to break federal law to get meds for my son.
Holly Ramsey
“I have to break federal law to get meds for my son,” Ramsey said and held up a clear plastic bag of what looked like red candy.
“I live in Brentwood and can get Delta 8 gummies at [stores] all over town but the state won’t let me get meds for my child that doesn’t look good, doesn’t taste good, and doesn’t get anybody high.
“We should not have to drive hours to get meds. We need to have [medical cannabis] in this state.”
Commission board members got to work Friday to fill the role of the commission’s executive director. So far, about 65 people have applied. Five candidates are at the top of the list after a review of the applications from state staffers. However, commission members asked to re-post the position and, perhaps, widen the net of applicants. The posting will close at the end of the year.
The budget for the executive director’s salary is now $88,788 with a benefits package just north of $21,000, for a total of about $109,000.
The commission is also due to report to the Tennessee General Assembly in January. That report will likely inform votes on passing cannabis legalization laws in the 2022 session.
