NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The battle for a medical cannabis bill has failed in the legislature.
The Senate shot down the major piece of legislation pushing the issue. Lawmakers debated the bill which included a number of efforts to expand legal use across Tennessee Wednesday.
One measure would have significantly expanded access to medical marijuana, but it it was rolled to next year by the sponsor in an effort to get the bill to another subcommittee the sponsor thinks will be more favorable toward the it.
Two other medical cannabis measures were discussed in the Mental Health and Substance Committee Wednesday and both failed.
One would have allowed people participating in FDA medical cannabis trials to bring their medication back to Tennessee without getting into legal trouble.
The second would have added cancer and inflammatory bowel disease to the list of conditions that the current medical marijuana law covers.
Senator Steve Dickerson hopes to take up the issue in 2020 with a "well thought-out" medical cannabis bill through the legislature and signed by the government as soon as possible.
Dickerson says he believes cannabis is a medicine and it should be available to Tennessee citizens. His next step will be to combine three medical cannabis bills that were discussed in legislature Wednesday.
