NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WTVF) – A state commission will soon give the legislature a recommendation on how to get medical cannabis to patients.
The Medical Cannabis Commission is tasked with studying the drug. They have heard people who are advocating for legalization and also law enforcement with concerns about the potential impact.
The road to legal medical cannabis has proved complicated in Tennessee.
For the past five years, legislation has repeatedly failed in state-level committees.
On Friday, the commission heard from the state highway patrol and the TBI crime lab.
“You can take prescription drugs, things like Xanax or Valium where you shouldn’t drive a motor vehicle, you can take range medicines like Benadryl and not be safe to drive a motor vehicle. [is] true for cannabis, “said Mike Lyttle, deputy director of TBI’s Forensic Division.
Law enforcement often points to places like Colorado to show the impact of legalization.
For example, DUI-related marijuana arrests have increased since the state legalized recreational cannabis in 2012.
But at the same time, the state increased the number of law enforcement officers trained to identify this crime.
Since the legalization, the number of arrests related to marijuana has dropped by 70%, which is not surprising.
The legalization of medical cannabis is moving at a rapid pace across the country.
These graphs show the progression over the last 20 years.
Colorado has had medical cannabis since 2000.
Then in 2012, the progression of other states joined, plus Colorado and Washington legalizing recreational cannabis.
By 2020, most states had legalized medical cannabis, and all but two states had CBD oil.
The problem in Tennessee is continually advocated by residents who want treatment, including David Hairston of Safe Access Tennessee.
“It’s not possible to put that genius back in the bottle with the widespread availability of cannabis, either as a medicine or as a recreational drug,” Hairston said. “We need to find an elegant way for law enforcement to get out of this and protect Tennessee patients, which is what we should have been doing all along.”
Medical Cannabis Commission talks included how to get patients who want to try the drug a way to get it from nearby states that have already legalized it.
They will make a recommendation to the state, but with so much effort already made in the past, it is not clear what will happen.
