NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — 21 states in the union have already legalized recreational marijuana, and if new legislation passes this session, Tennessee could be the 22nd. But, just how realistic are those prospects?
Sen. Heidi Campbell is one of the co-sponsors of the Free All Cannabis for Tennesseans Act — or FACT. "We know already that it’s popular across the state and across parties," said Campbell. "People are already going across state lines to get cannabis products."
In 2018, an MTSU poll found 81% of Tennesseans say it should be legalized to some degree, although only 37% say it should be legal for personal use and 44% say it should only be legal for medicinal use.
Campbell believes if people are already partaking, the state should be taking advantage of the tax revenue. "We’re missing out on billions in revenue every year that could be put towards education, rehabilitation, mental health and all kinds of things that surround cannabis," said Sen. Campbell.
But NewsChannel 5 consulted our political analyst, Pat Nolan, about the chances it actually passes. "Probably not," said Nolan. "If Republicans thought it was a good idea, they’d probably want to prefer to pass their own piece of legislation on it. Just because they don’t like to share credit for stuff like that."
Missouri is the latest state to legalize recreational marijuana with a Republican Governor and a Republican-led legislature. So how did they do it? They took the issue straight to the voters in a ballot initiative. "Given the polls I’ve seen, it would probably pass [here] pretty overwhelmingly," said Nolan.
But Tennessee doesn't allow referendum issues to go on the ballot, unless it's a constitutional amendment. As you might expect, amending the state constitution is no simple task. Either you have to have the Tennessee General Assembly pass a bill establishing a Constitutional Convention with special electors or it has to go through a few hoops before it goes before voters at the polls. "Both houses of the legislature have to approve it with a simple majority -- 50 votes in the house, 17 votes in the senate. Then two years later in the next legislature, they have to vote again and this time it has to pass by 2/3rds vote in both houses," said Nolan.
So is it possible the winds of change will ever blow on this topic in Tennessee? Campbell says she'll keep trying. "This is something Tennessee needs to do and it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re bringing it up every year," said Sen. Campbell.
Nolan says while recreational marijuana may have an uphill climb, passing medical marijuana could have an easier path.
