Summary
Highlights
This week, we are looking at marijuana issues in the state of Tennessee. Tonight, we hear from community leaders about the hot topic of legalization. We reached out to every single House and Senate member in Tennessee asking if they support the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana. Out of 132 members, only 27 responded. For medical marijuana, 17 supported it and 10 opposed. For recreational marijuana, six supported it and 21 opposed. We talked to one lawmaker who supports legalizing medical marijuana and the head of a drug prevention non-profit who opposes legalization to share their stance in their own words.
State Representative Jeremy Faison, representing the 11th House District, unequivocally supports medical marijuana. He argues that while trials are needed, the existing classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug (having no human value) is incorrect and prevents proper medical trials. He also dismisses the 'gateway drug' theory for marijuana, citing a 2002 National Academy of Sciences commission that found no correlation between marijuana and other drug use, but rather implicated tobacco, sugar, and caffeine as gateway substances.
Karen Pershing, Executive Director of the Metro Drug Coalition in Knoxville, a substance abuse prevention organization, absolutely opposes medical marijuana. She emphasizes waiting for proper processes and trials before legitimizing it as medicine. Pershing highlights concerns about undeveloped adolescent brains and the potential for THC to halt brain development. She points out that adolescents who use drugs like tobacco, nicotine, vapor products, alcohol, and marijuana before age 14 are 17 times more likely to have substance issues as adults.