More states are poised to legalize cannabis access once federal marijuana rescheduling is finalized. These include Tennessee, where a pair of Democratic state lawmakers want to legalize adult-use cannabis and use tax money for road repairs.
But until authorities act on President Donald Trump’s historic Dec. 18 executive order, progress on opening new cannabis markets in Tennessee remains stalled, prominent state lawmakers told Nashville-based WTFV-5.
Tennessee is one of a handful of states without medical or adult-use cannabis access.
Several efforts that would see the state legalize MMJ, following the examples of nearby states including Arkansas and Kentucky, have failed thanks to staunch opposition in the legislature.
The state came closest in 2018, when the then-state House Republican Speaker Beth Harwell cast a vote in favor of legalizing medical cannabis.
That effort ultimately fell apart because of opposition from state law enforcement, WTFV-reported.
But Trump’s embrace of rescheduling is changing minds.
When will Tennessee legalize medical marijuana?
Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth, one of the current chief obstacles in the legislature, told WTFV-5 that federal marijuana rescheduling is resolving one of his “biggest objections.”
“In rescheduling cannabis, and rescheduling, specifically, marijuana and allowing the doctors to take over and make a determination on how and if these substances could be helpful,” Lamberth told WFTV.
Reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule 3 drug promises to ease access for scientists and doctors to research the plant. It would also officially designate the drug as a medicine under federal law.
It may also convince other states to move forward with regulated cannabis access – and that could be what finally legalizes cannabis in Tennessee, House Republican Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison told WFTV.
How marijuana rescheduling will open new markets
Faison is backing a proposal that would lead state agencies to study legal cannabis frameworks in other states – eventually bringing it to Tennessee.
“I would say within the next two or three years, you’re going to see a framework set up here in Tennessee,” Faison told WFTV.
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