Tennessee's legislature has approved HB1972 and its companion SB1603, a measure that would prevent the state from automatically reviewing its marijuana scheduling laws if the federal government reschedules cannabis. The bill now heads to Gov. Bill Lee (R).
Under existing Tennessee law, federal reclassification of a controlled substance triggers an automatic state review by the health commissioner and the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. The new legislation carves out a marijuana-specific exception: even if the federal government moves cannabis off Schedule I, Tennessee's commissioners cannot reschedule it unless the General Assembly first establishes a regulatory framework and explicitly grants that authority.
The bill states that "if marijuana is rescheduled or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law, then the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services shall not reschedule or delete marijuana under [state drug laws] unless the general assembly has established a regulatory framework for marijuana and authorized the commissioner to reschedule or delete marijuana as a controlled substance."
Lead Senate sponsor Sen. Ferrell Haile (R) said, "We don't want the Wild West out here. We want the General Assembly deciding how we decide and deal with things."
Sen. Kerry Roberts (R) was skeptical the legislature would ever act, even if federal rescheduling occurred. "We haven't done anything for years," he said, according to The Tennessean. "So if the feds make a decision to reschedule, delete or redesignate, I just don't have any confidence that we'll ever do anything."
The vote follows months of bipartisan discussion in Tennessee about whether a federal move to shift cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act could open a path to state-level medical marijuana reform. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in December directing officials to finalize that rescheduling process.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R) said last month the federal push could remove state-level obstacles. House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) had described rescheduling as a "first step" toward medical cannabis reform in Tennessee, while flagging unresolved questions about who would manufacture, test, and distribute the drug, which medical conditions would qualify, and whether FDA approval would be required.
