Tag: Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission

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CannaBeat: Federal Cannabis Reform May Pave the Way for Tennessee

Credit: Toby Sells

Cannabis reform in Tennessee can’t clear one big hurdle, but that hurdle has a shot at being removed this year.

Lawmakers here haven’t been able to pull the trigger on reform, as so many other states have, because the drug is listed on the federal government’s Schedule I. This puts cannabis on the same list as heroin, LSD, meth, and peyote. This designation seems to scare the bejeezus out of Tennessee lawmakers for fear the feds might begin cannabis enforcement once again.

It does seem the state is moving toward reform. The Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission began its work late last year, hammering out some details of what such a program here might look like. However, the bill that created that group states clearly that Tennessee will not move forward with any cannabis reform until the federal government removes the drug from the Schedule I.

However, there is a cannabis bill already filed for the Tennessee General Assembly’s next regular session. In July, state Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) filed legislation that, if approved, would ask Tennesseans what they think about legalizing marijuana with a nonbinding poll question in 2022 elections. The bill, though, was panned by many as doing too little for any actual reform.

“This is the type of bill you introduce when you don’t have the courage, as a legislator or a party, to just do what’s right,” tweeted state Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) at the time.

But Congress cracked the door on reform last year, offering some hope of removing that federal hurdle on reforms here. In September, the House Judiciary Committee passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would remove the drug from the controlled substances list, expunge nonviolent cannabis convictions, and more.

While this move has support from Democrats, a Republican effort was announced in November. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina) filed the States Reform Act. The bill would remove cannabis from the Schedule I and provide states a framework for reform working with their unique laws.

“The States Reform Act takes special care to keep Americans and their children safe while ending federal interference with state cannabis laws,” Mace said at the time.

In April, Virginia became the first state in the South to legalize cannabis for all adult use, medical or recreational. The new law sets the path for legal cannabis sales to begin there in 2024. Also, New Hampshire lawmakers approved recreational cannabis reform earlier this year.

In Europe, Malta lawmakers turned heads when they legalized cannabis with nationwide legislation, becoming the first European Union country to do so. German lawmakers promised cannabis legalization in December after such proposals had been blocked for years.

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CannaBeat: Tearful Testimony Before Cannabis Commission

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. 

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TN Medical Cannabis Commission Gets to Work

Tennessee has three months to hire an executive director of the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission and file a report on progress to the Tennessee General Assembly. 

That is the basic outline of the upcoming expectations for the commission, which met for the first time in Nashville Friday morning. The group was established with a bill passed late in the legislature’s most recent session. 

Even though it seems like the schedule puts the work before the commission in hurry-up mode, the bill that established the group states Tennessee will not move ahead with any cannabis reform until the federal government removes the drug from the Schedule 1. That became closer to reality this week as the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved marijuana legalization. 

(Credit: State of Tennessee)

Friday’s meeting of the Tennessee Medical Marijuana Commission did not yield any firm decisions, as not enough members of the group were present to make votes. However, the commission heard advice from Sen. Ferrel Haile (R-Gallatin), one of the sponsors of this year’s medical marijuana legislation.

“Lots of folks are going to be pulling at you with their own agenda,” he told the commission before the meeting was under way. “Some are going to be special groups, and lobbyists, and nonprofits, and members of the General Assembly. They’ll be lobbying you for a certain direction. 

Lots of folks are going to be pulling at you with their own agenda.

Sen. Ferrel Haile (R-Gallatin)

“I’d encourage you to resist those and focus on the the intent that we have here and don’t let them tilt the scale one way or another. What we want is something that’s workable for the state of Tennessee and, more importantly, the patients of Tennessee.”

This year’s legislation gave the commission a budget of $302,700. That money is expected to pay salaries for the executive director and other staffers. It’ll also be spent on travel, office equipment, and other support items. 

The Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) posted the executive director position on September 8th. In two weeks, more than 70 applied for the job. Commission members went home Friday with boxes of resumes and cover letters from the prospects. Hiring this position will be the first order of business for the commission. 

While it didn’t vote on anything, the group did wade into some real-world cannabis topics. Matthew Gibbs, TDH’s senior associate special counsel, talked about patient reciprocity. That is, how would Tennessee treat medical marijuana patients from other states?

Gibbs gave two very different examples. In Arkansas, patients can show medical cannabis cards from any other state, get a 90-day visiting patient card, and be allowed to buy the drug at any dispensary in the state. In Missouri, though, patients from other states must jump through every legal hoop as state citizens before they can purchase cannabis there. 

A report is due to state legislators on the progress of the state cannabis commission in January. The group is slated to meet again in two weeks.