Tennessee Republicans Eye Allowing Medical Marijuana, Within Limits

State Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) says the views of his fellow Republicans on medical marijuana are evolving, like other Tennesseans’.

“I think people have realized that there are medical conditions out there, people who are suffering, who don’t have to suffer.”

So Green, a physician, believes the time is right for a proposal that would be a massive shift by legalizing some forms of medical marijuana.

The main question—just how far do they want to go?

Green is working on the plan with Sen. Steve Dickerson (R-Nashville), who is also a physician, and Rep. Ryan Williams (R-Cookeville). Details won’t be released until next week, but the 
idea is to
go beyond allowing cannabis oil, a low-potency marijuana extract that many believe can prevent childhood seizures, and to permit 

vaporized marijuana.

Street marijuana that can be smoked or eaten would be out. And use would be limited to patients with a handful of maladies, including perhaps epilepsy, spinal cord injuries and cancer.

Supporters say one of the main challenges facing them is not opposition to letting patients use marijuana, but figuring out how to control it once it becomes available.

Even such a limited embrace of medical marijuana would represent a dramatic shift for Republicans in the state legislature. As recently as last year, they shot down a proposal.

But Nashville Democrat Sherry Jones, a longtime supporter of medical marijuana, says she’s not at all surprised.

“Maybe they’ve looked at the polling numbers on it, where it polls over 70 percent, and have decided they should get on board this year.”

Jones believes there should be far fewer restrictions. But she thinks the proposal is at least a start.