March 28, 2024  ⦿  

Covering Cannabis Culture & Business Since 2006

Nashville plans to introduce a bill to legalize recreational cannabis

Sen. Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) noted that “we’re surrounded by states that have already done it, and of course, we have approximately states that now have authorized medical marijuana.” So, we are almost an island here.

New legislation is currently being prepared to attempt to legalize cannabis access in the state. Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) said, “It’s a full legalization of cannabis throughout the state.”

Freeman and Campbell want to introduce a measure to legalize cannabis for recreational use in the coming days.

The decision was made in part because they both think marijuana would someday be legalized by the federal government. Theoretically, Tennessee would lose even more tax money if that were to occur.

“Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that individuals aren’t smuggling marijuana into other states over the border. They are, of course,” Campbell remarked. So that’s simply lost income, I suppose.

Freeman added that the fact that the existing state of affairs disproportionately impacts those with lesser incomes is another reason he wants the law to be passed.

“The possibilities of you receiving a slap on the wrist and nothing occurring are quite good if you reside in an affluent section of the state and a wealthy community in our city,” he added. “If you were caught smoking some cannabis for personal consumption.” If you are caught with marijuana and live in a less affluent area, you will go to jail.

In terms of the bill’s actual passage, Freeman was only slightly optimistic. On a scale of 1 to 10, he rated his confidence as “a strong 7, 7.5.”

A little more pessimistic was Campbell. “Pretty low—I won’t tell you the figure, but I don’t think we’ll pass it this session,” the speaker said.

The majority of Republicans oppose the full legalization of marijuana for recreational use, and Republicans hold a supermajority in both of Tennessee’s legislative chambers.

If you don’t think the law will pass, you might wonder why bother filing it. It’s important to keep the topic front and center, according to Campbell.

“We ran it last session, and I think it’s necessary to run it,” she added. “We want to keep the problem alive and the messaging flowing.” We’ll just keep hammering on the door until someone answers it since that will undoubtedly happen at some point.

Sen. Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) and Rep. Ron Travis (R-Dayton) introduced a medicinal marijuana bill in 2020, and it was making its way through the legislature when COVID-19 stopped it.

Share

420 Business Directory

Find and establish connections with companies in the cannabis eco-system

Interested in this?

Read More

Continue reading about the latest news from the cannabis sectors worldwide