Tennessee legislators to study medical cannabis

Two of Tennessee’s most prominent public officials are calling for the legislature to study how legalized medical marijuana might impact the state.

Only months after a MMJ bill died in the legislature, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and House Speaker Beth Harwell are setting up the Joint Ad Hoc Committee on Medical Cannabis, The Tennessean reported.

In a letter announcing the creation of the committee, McNally and Harwell mandated that its members “study, evaluate, analyze and undertake a comprehensive review regarding whether the legalization of cannabis for medicinal purposes is in the best interest of the state.”

Sen. Steve Dickerson and Rep. Jeremy Faison – who introduced an MMJ bill last December that stalled in the Senate – will chair the medical cannabis committee, according to the newspaper. Both are Republicans.

The Senate will be represented on the panel by Republicans Richard Briggs, Rusty Crowe and Joey Hensley and Democrat Jeff Yarbro; Representatives on the panel are Republicans Sheila Butt, Bob Ramsey and Sam Whitson and Democrat Raumesh Akbari.

Harwell – a Republican candidate for governor – said in August she’s “open” to looking at a medical cannabis law, according to The Associated Press.