Tennessee's Medical Marijuana Has Passed

This was a great week for Tennessee cannabis legislation. On Thursday February 11, 2021,

Senate committee passed on first consideration an act to legalize Marijuana for medical use in the State of Tennessee.

This is the first win of several hurdles needed to pass SB0854

Senator Janice Bowling of Tullahoma, Tennessee has created a bill in which we believe serves a very critical need for residents with medical conditions by opening pathways to alternative therapeutic treatments designed help alleviate symptoms therein. This bill may also create hundreds of new businesses and potentially thousands of new job opportunities in the state which may be struggling to find new revenue sources to meet future budget demands.

10 Key components in this bill from our takeaway is as follows

1. In order to obtain a medical cannabis card, you must be seen by a licensed doctor, physician's assistant, or nurse practitioner.

2. tracking patient registry

3. A Tennessee cannabis commission of 12 will be established for oversight and regulatory measures

4. Phase one licensing

Three urban licenses in each county having a population of more than three hundred sixty thousand (360,000), the commission shall issue no more than four (4) rural licenses in each grand division of this state. Four Rural licenses in each grand division of this state, The maximum number of RUVI licenses available to be issued in this state is twelve.

5. Application fees. An entity applying for an urban omni license shall pay the department an application fee of eighty-five thousand dollars ($85,000), of which fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) is nonrefundable. An entity applying for an rural license shall pay the department a nonrefundable application fee of forty-five thousand dollars ($45,000), If the application is denied, forty thousand dollars $40,000

6. Tentative taxation at the the rate of 2.1% plus the rate of 9% and any additional local county, and city applicable taxes. Excise tax rate for all licensees, except for rural licensees, is equal to ten percent (10%)

7. Does not limit the ability of an employer to establish, continue, or enforce a drug-free workplace program or policy.

8. A medical cannabis cultivation operation may be contiguous with the licensee's medical cannabis wellness dispensary or a medical cannabis-infused products manufacturer operated by the licensee. There is no requirement that such operations be contiguous. (b) A medical cannabis cultivation operation shall track all medical cannabis the operation cultivates from seed or immature plant to wholesale transfer or destruction.

9. A person who has any financial interest in a medical cannabis testing facility shall not hold any license or have any financial interest in another type of medical cannabis establishment

10. A medical cannabis-infused product must be manufactured with equipment used exclusively for the manufacture and preparation of medical cannabis-infused products. (b) A medical cannabis-infused products manufacturer is authorized to sell products only to a medical cannabis wellness dispensary or to another medical cannabis-infused products manufacturer.

What's next? Tennessee Senate leaders will need to call this to the Senate floor for discussions and voting. We believe this will need the help of you , getting in contact with your representatives.

We feel very satisfied by the structure of this bill and believe this is the year that passage of this bill is needed. Creating thousands of jobs, helping many people in their daily medical needs, insuring revenue for our state. This is a huge win for Tennessee. We recommend anyone to contact their district senators by phone or email and ask them to support SB0854.

You can find your legislators here: FIND MY LEGISLATOR

Have a great weekend friends. We will keep updating as we find out more.

We <3 TN