Title:
Call for a hearing on Tennessee's medical marijuana bill
Message:
Companion medical marijuana bills were introduced in the Tennessee state legislature this session, but they have not gained any momentum yet and still remain to be heard in committee.
Once introduced, SB 641 was quickly referred to the Senate General Welfare, Health and Human Services Committee. It has not been scheduled for a hearing. HB 486, on the other hand, was sitting in the House Health and Human Resources Committee until it was just recently assigned to the Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee.
Please take a moment to call the subcommittee chair, Rep. Mary Pruitt (D-Nashville), and urge her to schedule HB 486 for a hearing. Receiving a hearing (and a favorable vote) in this subcommittee is currently a top priority if we want to see medical marijuana moving forward in Tennessee this year. Rep. Pruitt may be reached at (615) 385-0590 or (615) 741-3853. If you are unable to call, she is also available via e-mail at rep.mary.pruitt@legislature.state.tn.us, but please keep in mind that a phone call has a much greater impact than an e-mail.
Once you have called Rep. Pruitt, please take a few moments to speak with the remaining committee members. Legislators especially like to hear from their own constituents, so if you recognize any of these names as your representative, please call him or her first. If you are unsure of who represents you, you can look that up here. If none of the following legislators are your own, please still take a moment to call one or more of them of your choosing.
Chris Crider (R-Milan) (615) 741-7478
or rep.chris.crider@legislature.state.tn.us
Lois Deberry (D-Memphis) (901) 743-1133, (615) 741-3830,
or rep.lois.deberry@legislature.state.tn.us
Tom Dubois (R-Columbia) (615) 741-7444
or rep.tom.dubois@legislature.state.tn.us
JoAnne Favors (D-Chattanooga) (615) 741-2702
or rep.joanne.favors@legislature.state.tn.us
Sherry Jones (D-Nashville) (615) 832-4211, (615) 741-2035,
or rep.sherry.jones@legislature.state.tn.us
Debra Maggart (R–Hendersonville) (615) 741-3893
or rep.debra.young.maggart@legislature.state.tn.us
(You may also call the committee secretary at (615) 741-3853 to urge the committee to hold a hearing and vote.)
We are also looking for patients and doctors who support patients' access to medical marijuana to write letters-to-the-editor or op-eds to their local papers. If you are a patient or medical professional who would like to submit a piece to your paper, please contact Anthony@mpp.org.
Finally, a little background on these bills: Rep. Beverly Marrero (D), original sponsor of HB 486, recently won a special election for a vacant Senate seat, and is now a state senator. Once she moved to the Senate, Rep. Mike Kernell (D-93) added his name to HB 486. As for SB 641, interim Sen. Shea Flinn (D) originally was the sponsor but his was the seat up for grabs in the special election! Therefore, Sen. Marrero (D-30) now leads the charge on the Senate bill.
Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project. Please forward this message along to your friends and family in Tennessee, so that they may also become involved in reform.
