Becoming a Medical Marijuana Patient in Tennessee

David Bowman

David Bowman

New Member
Summary
Tennessee's medical cannabis law was signed in May 2014, creating an extremely narrow legal exception that does not protect the vast majority of residents. Under the law, licensed physicians can recommend cannabis oil that contains less than 0.9% THC, but only to treat severe seizure disorders. In Tennessee, cannabis must be produced and manufactured by a university in Putnam County as part of an approved clinical trial, effectively hampering supply. There is no legal protection offered for independent patient caregivers, dispensaries, producers or processors. Recommending physicians must supply a report to Tennessee's General Assembly by January 2018 on the results of all cannabis research, including the number of patients involved, the parameters of the study and the outcomes of each participant.

What's Legal
Legal protections for medical cannabis patients in Tennessee are extremely limited. Only patients diagnosed with an uncontrolled seizure disorder who are enrolled in an approved clinical research study may acquire and possess cannabis oil that contains no more than 0.9% THC. The law does not provide clear guidance on how cannabis oil will be produced or distributed, but requires that cannabis oil be produced or distributed by a four-year school of higher education in the state.

Eligible Conditions
  • Must be diagnosed with intractable seizures, no other conditions qualify under Tennessee law
  • Must be enrolled in an approved clinical research study
  • Must be under the care of a physician at a hospital or clinic affiliated with a school of medicine
Application Process
The law does set forth a formal application process for patients to enroll; however, patients will have to enroll in a clinical research study run by a hospital or clinic affiliated with a school of medicine in Tennessee in order to be legally protected. Consult with medical schools in the state to find out if any clinical research studies are currently available.

Doctor
Any physician work on a clinical research study investigating treatment options on uncontrollable seizures may recommend cannabis oil. No other physicians in the state may recommend cannabis oil.

Access/Caregivers
The law does not provide for legal protections to caregivers, and does not clearly address the issue of distribution other than that the cannabis oil must be produced or distributed by a four-year public institution of higher education located in Putnam County.

Consumption
The law does not restrict where patients may consume cannabis oil.

Age Limits
There are no age restrictions for patients under the Tennessee law.

Confidentiality
Although there are no explicit privacy protections, there is no patient registry.

Housing
The law does not contain hosing discrimination protection for patients.

Employment
The law does not contain hosing discrimination protection for patients.

Insurance
The law does not require insurance companies to pay for cannabis oil treatment.

Out of State Patients
There are no protections for patients with an out of state medical marijuana ID card or physician's recommendation, even for seizure disorders.

Source: ASA: Becoming a Patient in Tennessee
 
how would i start the movement for medicinal cannabis??? in the state of Tennessee as i suffer not only from seizures but p.t.s.d. bipolar social anxiety and much physical pain from fused discs in my kneck pinched syatica nerve and other back problems and total knee reconstructions!!!! I NEED HELP FOR THE MOVEMENT TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS USE IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE!!!!!!!!!!! TY SO MUCH JP513
 
JP513, I hope that we Tennesseans will come out of the grip of ignorance, and support for a police state in our legislature. Nashville and Memphis recently made a token gesture toward that possibility. It is disappointing in how small a gesture that was and it shows how far away we are without National legalization that bypasses our ignorant and hateful state government. That doesn't mean we should just wait for that to happen here in our state. We should speak up whenever possible (with some degree of discretion to maintain our freedom from jailing/harassment) to not only politicians, but to our coworkers, friends, relatives and church members. If we speak with intelligence and present the facts , we stand to at least begin some of them to rethink their attitudes toward prohibition and the social cost of it. Meanwhile I pray for a national movement and the conversion of The president elect and members of congress to take heed and change federal laws. Most likely, no major change will happen in Tennessee until that happens, I am sad to think. Tennessee has a police system that is allowed to confiscate and sale or convert to their use, property of citizens without a trial or conviction and the proceeds go into the local and/or state police funds. A huge amount of cash comes from sale of confiscated cars and personal property, and seized cash is almost never returned! Even when charged and a trial has exonerated the victim the funds/property are not returned! Some have managed after lengthy and expensive court procedures that may drag on for years, to get some relief but most never get their property back! When a state condones this type of abuse ,providing a cash cow to be milked by police , you know we have a serious problem here! This was the type of police system that helped create Stalin's Cold Grip over his people! Random stop, search and seizure is the way in Tennessee and if you try to resist they will get a rubber stamp from the local court judge to search your property on any contrived premise. Now the government has supplied them with sophisticated listening devices, sensors, detectors, cameras and drones and they are spying on citizens at their random fancy! They deny this of course! But I have observed them directing listening devices and flying drones over peoples homes in my neighborhood who are not involved in any criminal activity and it appears at least that they are just having fun doing it and hoping for a hit! God help us! I am morally conservative on most things but I promise I will vote for whoever runs, committed to ending cannabis prohibition! We must break the back of organized crime/gangs and the control of the police state over our daily lives and within our homes! We can do this through ending the war on drugs, full legalization of Cannabis, reforming our state laws to end police confiscation abuses and being watchful for abuses to our constitution even when court sanctioned. Hang in there brother and if possible consider going to the newest state nearby, that has a decent MMJ law now, Arkansas!
 
Never happen in TN. I was raised there and it's a corrupt state. Currently Corrections Corporation of America has their corporate headquarters in Nashville. Think cheap prison labor(half of tn prisons are run by them), and the money that is made from it. Also in two years they will be electing a new governor. The current front runner is worth 153 million, much more than her rivals....how did she make that money? She owns a company that preforms urinalysis/drug screenings. Look them up, Corrections Corp of America, Diane Black and Aegis Sciences Corp.

The state legislature bloviators all slapped themselves on the back for the medi mari law....look at it close. It provided for one university to produce the oil etc for patients..only if the university was conducting studies. WHICH THEY AREN'T !

Vote them all out and start over, maybe then Tn will have a chance.
 
Agreed, we live in a backwards state , that is full of ignorance and greed! Prisons for profit are a major national disgrace and are proliferating all across the nation. I think that we probably are doomed to wait for national change in Federal laws before meaningful change occurs here in Tennessee! We will not make any progress in changing our state electorate without being engaged in the educating of our neighbors about cannabis and the evilness of our present totalitarian /dragonian drug laws. While major change may not occur here without national action, we may effect some lessoning of enforcement and punishment through political action on the local level. Sad, how far we are from ending the civil war within our state, that pits neighbors against neighbors, propagated by the control freaks and the police state mentality. Don't give up the ship, keep on resisting and speaking out against the atrocities being promulgated by our state officials.:rollit:
Rifleman said:
Never happen in TN. I was raised there and it's a corrupt state. Currently Corrections Corporation of America has their corporate headquarters in Nashville. Think cheap prison labor(half of tn prisons are run by them), and the money that is made from it. Also in two years they will be electing a new governor. The current front runner is worth 153 million, much more than her rivals....how did she make that money? She owns a company that preforms urinalysis/drug screenings. Look them up, Corrections Corp of America, Diane Black and Aegis Sciences Corp.

The state legislature bloviators all slapped themselves on the back for the medi mari law....look at it close. It provided for one university to produce the oil etc for patients..only if the university was conducting studies. WHICH THEY AREN'T !

Vote them all out and start over, maybe then Tn will have a chance.
Click to expand...
 
Tennessee needs to step it up!!! now we got megan gay berry .. that bitch needs to go hide under a rock..
 
I think one of the big obstacles in Tennessee is the highly effective propaganda program of the past almost, 100 years to brainwash the public. Most people here do not know alcohol is the primary gateway drug and that cannabis is effective in reducing many peoples consumption of that highly toxic and dangerously debilitating drug. Tens of thousands of alcohol related deaths annually in Tennessee, but they have been convinced cannabis is dangerous and alcohol is ok and socially acceptable. No cure for being stupid. My great grand mother, a God loving, good person and herbalist healer used cannabis as medicine and a relaxant for stress and "female issues". She was raised before the great cannabis eradication programs began, but she lived well past into the 1960's were she would be considered a criminal for her growing and using cannabis as a herbal remedy. She was seen picking apples well up into the tree in her late 90's, climbing from branch to branch! So much for their lies about cannabis being a dangerous drug when used as a herbal remedy with common sense. Even when abused and smoked as concentrates for maximum intoxication it is far less toxic or dangerous than many legal substances sold at Walgreens or Walmart. Education and personal testimony of mature and respected, hard working people to their communities will help overcome this ignorance. I am running out of time and patience myself to see freedom in my lifetime from tyranny and discrimination based on use of herbal remedies as opposed to alcohol and "approved" drugs. I pray for freedom for my great grandchildren to use God's plants and animals as provided by Him for our use without government tyranny and intrusion into our gardens and homes. Shouldn't they be focused on Fentanyl, methamphetamine, alcohol and other highly dangerous products and not persecuting citizens for herbal remedies with a proven track record of 5000 years of safe and beneficial uses.
 
Back
Top Bottom