Lawmakers should ask their constituents what they think and then in their 2025 session start working on allowing broader access to cannabis for all Tennesseans.

• David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee.

In 2015, former state Rep. Sheila Butt, now mayor of Maury County, openly talked about how cannabis oil versus traditional medication would help her sister, who suffered from seizures.

East Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison famously posted a photo of himself at a marijuana grow room during a 2016 visit to Colorado to learn more about medicinal uses for the plant.

Beth Harwell, the former Tennessee Speaker of the House, campaigned for governor in 2018 on a promise to make marijuana legal in the Volunteer State.

Ex state Sen. Steve Dickerson, a physician, advocated for alternative forms of medicine including cannabis in a 2020 guest opinion column in The Tennessean.

They all happen to be Republicans in a state with a GOP-dominated legislature. Faison is now in a leadership position as House GOP Caucus chair, but in 2015, he said: “For close to a decade we demonized a plant. We are in the early stages in America and in Tennessee in understanding there may be some benefits in this plant.”

While he is not quite so vocal about this subject as he used to be, now that the federal government is looking to change rules downgrading marijuana from a Schedule I to Schedule III drug, Faison and his colleagues should start back on a path toward broader legalization in Tennessee.

Cannabis production and sales are limited in Tennessee

The change, if approved after a public comment process, would no longer classify marijuana as among the “most dangerous and addictive substances,” according to a USA TODAY report.

Twenty-four of 50 states have legalized marijuana for recreational use and another 14 only allow it for medicinal use, according to Pew Research Center. That means the vast majority of Americans – 74% – live in a state where there is some form of broad legalization.

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Tennessee is not one of them and what is permissible is limited.

There are cannabis-derived products, such as, oils, ointments and gummies, which are allowed to be sold in the state, including CBD,  or cannabidiol, and Delta-8. In 2022, Buds & Brews became Tennessee’s first legal restaurant to serve cannabis-infused condiments and beverages.

In addition, the state allows for the legal cultivation of hemp that contains less than 0.3% of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychotropic part of the plant. Anything beyond 0.3% is forbidden and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s official statement on its website says: “TBI is opposed to the legalization of marijuana in any form outside of the FDA and DEA approval process utilized for all other forms of medicine.”

Yet, in a state suffering an opioid abuse and death epidemic and with federal rules likely changing, it is time to change the law in Tennessee starting with broader access to medicinal care.

In his guest opinion column, Dickerson, the medical doctor and former state senator, addressed concerns that legalized marijuana could be a “gateway” drug for addiction and he responded this way: “Like any medical treatment, this is a concern that must be taken seriously. However, research clearly shows that cannabis dependency occurs in a tiny percentage of patients, and it is far safer than other types of painkillers. With proper care and supervision, the benefits of medical cannabis far outweigh these concerns.”

Americans show record support for legalizing pot

More than a decade ago, the Obama Administration stopped prosecuting people for possessing medicinal marijuana.

Congress has limited the Department of Justice’s ability to go after people in states that have legalized marijuana, according to a 2022 Congressional Research Service report.

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President Joe Biden has pardoned thousands of Americans convicted on federal counts of simple possession of marijuana.

Today, as fentanyl and other synthetic drugs are public health and criminal justice threats, legalizing marijuana could help people in pain, farmers, and state budgets at a time when revenues are flat or falling. Non-violent people would stay out of jail.

National Geographic wrote in its “Inside Marijuana” that cannabis is among the largest cash crops in the nation and the legal pot trade is outpacing the wine industry in California.

There are important concerns about potential addiction in some cases and about whether heavy state regulations create a disincentive for growers, leading people to get their recreational pot in the underground economy, thus, defeating the purpose for a legal framework.

However, popular opinion is very much in favor of legalization. The polling and public sentiment research service Gallup showed that Americans’ support for legalized marijuana grew from 12% in 1969 to a record 70% in 2023.

Lawmakers should ask their constituents what they think and then in their 2025 session start working on allowing broader access to cannabis for all Tennesseans.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee. He is an editorial board member of The Tennessean. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast and curates the Tennessee Voices and Latino Tennessee Voices newsletters. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.