NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On January 1, recreational marijuana will become legal for recreational use for both state residents and visitors. Some believe this will mean an increase in marijuana trafficked to Tennessee as well as drug convictions in the court system.
Dispensaries across the state will accept of state IDs and visitors can possess an amount of weed inside the state. However, transporting recreational marijuana out of the state is illegal.
Legal expert Jim Todd said he still believes it will happen, though.
"Most of the illegal marijuana that comes into Tennessee now comes from Colorado and California which is obviously much farther away and is usually shipped," he said. "Now that it's only two and a half to three hours away it's going to be driven here and it's going to be a lot harder for police officers to stop it from coming in."
Todd said he believes black market marijuana will be shipped in from growers in Illinois and sold in Tennessee via major highways.
Other law enforcement said they weren't sure if there would be an increasing in trafficking or not.
