A state legislator from Dickson sits on a six-person subcommittee that is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the “Medical Cannabis Act.”
The act would establish a “cannabis commission” for the regulation of cannabis-related health care.
Rep. Michael Curcio, D-Dickson is a member of the criminal justice subcommittee in the state House of Representatives. The bill is scheduled to be voted on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m.
The bill, HB 1749/SB 1710, is sponsored in the House by Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, who represents Cocke County and part of Jefferson and Greene counties.
The bill was introduced in January by Faison and Sen. Steve Dickerson, R-Nashville, would only allow oil-based manufactured products, such as pills or lotions, and would not permit the sale of raw cannabis, also known as marijuana, as is common in other states.
As many as 29 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico, have laws permitting the use of cannabis for medical purposes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
But the approaches used in each state vastly differ, ranging from allowing home cultivation to only permitting cannabis-infused products.
Eight states currently allow recreational marijuana. Vermont will become the ninth state when Gov. Phil Scott gives a bill his approval, as he has indicated.
The new Faison-Dickerson legislation would not permit any recreational use of marijuana.
“Now is the time for the General Assembly to embrace thoughtful, medically responsible legislation to help Tennessee’s sickest residents,” Dickerson said in a statement.
The two Republicans estimated at least 65,000 Tennesseans would benefit from the legislation.
