Tennessee General Assembly fails to act on cannabis policy reform again in 2026

Tennessee is one of only nine states without a viable medical cannabis program, and one of 19 states that continues to imprison individuals for possessing small amounts of cannabis — possession of a half-ounce or less is punishable by nearly a year of incarceration. In 2025, there were 11,117 cannabis possession arrests. 

With the Georgia legislature expanding its medical cannabis program in 2026, Tennessee is now an island of backwards cannabis policies. Seven of its eight border states have comprehensive medical cannabis laws. Tennessee’s 2026 legislative session saw 27 pieces of legislation introduced concerning cannabis policy. These bills included medical cannabis, decriminalization, legalization, and non-binding referendums for voters to decide in November 2026. None of the bills that would have moved cannabis policy in a positive direction advanced beyond subcommittee hearings. During the Tennessee General Assembly’s legislative session, the federal government reclassified state-legal medical cannabis as a Schedule III drug, acknowledging its medical value and that it is less risky than Schedule II prescriptions like oxycodone. This action, at the direction of Pres. Trump, could give new momentum to medical cannabis efforts in 2027. 

The only legislation to advance and be signed into law concerning cannabis policy was HB1972/SB1603, and it moved policy backwards. These companion bills amended a law from the 1970s that would have empowered the state commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse to reschedule cannabis at the state level if rescheduling occurred on the federal level. HB1972/SB1603 states that state rescheduling cannot be done unless or until the General Assembly creates a regulatory framework. This legislation was passed and signed into law very quickly, in response to the rescheduling order by the federal government that was started under the Biden administration and renewed by the Trump administration in early 2026. 

Let your legislators know you support medical cannabis or decriminalization.

Tennessee’s Low-THC Cannabis Program

Tennessee’s first CBD-focused law, SB 2531, was passed in 2014. It required that a hospital or state university-affiliated clinic supervise the study of cannabis oil for certain patients with seizures. It did not materialize. In subsequent years, the limited program was improved and expanded, but it remains extremely limited.

In 2021, lawmakers expanded the state’s CBD law by passing SB 118. The law excludes from the state's definition of “marijuana” CBD oils with up to 0.9% THC if the oil meets labeling requirements, if the patient has a qualifying condition, and if the patient or immediate family member of a patient has documentation required by the law, including a “valid letter of attestation” from a practitioner. The law now includes Alzheimer's disease; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; cancer, if it is end stage or the treatment produces related wasting illness, recalcitrant nausea and vomiting, or pain; inflammatory bowel disease; epilepsy or seizures; multiple sclerosis; Parkinson's disease; HIV or AIDS; sickle cell disease; or any other disease or condition recommended by the Medical Cannabis Commission pursuant to rules it promulgates.

The state’s low THC/CBD law grants legal protections from prosecution to patients enrolled in the program but includes no in-state access to cannabis products. Products must be purchased from legal dispensaries in states with reciprocity provisions in their medical cannabis programs and brought back to Tennessee.

Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission

2021’s SB 118 also created the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission to study and recommend medical cannabis policy. In January 2022, the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission issued a report to the legislature recommending improvements to the high-CBD/low-THC program. The report recommended allowing cannabis oils, tinctures, patches, edibles, vapors, and waxes, but not dried botanical cannabis (flower). The Commission also recommended employee protections and parental rights for those participating in the program. Nursing home and school-aged patients would have allowances for medical use on-site. None of the recommendations were taken up by the General Assembly since the Commission made its recommendations.The Tennessee Medical Marijuana Commission also issued a 2025 report, but it was very limited, following difficulties meeting quorum in 2024. No report was submitted in 2026 and the recommendations that were submitted in 2022 have not been updated since then.

2026 Is an Election Year

There will be state and federal elections in November 2026 that will include a new governor, half of the state Senate, and the full House of Representatives. The party primaries will be held on August 6, 2026. Tennessee’s cannabis policies will continue to lag behind its neighbors until and unless leadership and rank-and-file members of the General Assembly are elected who are open to reforms. The current lieutenant governor, who also controls the agenda of the Senate, is retiring, so the Senate will choose a new President/lieutenant governor in 2027. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Tennessee voters support allowing patients and doctors to decide whether to use medical cannabis. Ask your state lawmakers to listen to voters and pass medical cannabis legislation. 

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