Tennessee's governor has signed a bill to block an automatic review that could have potentially legalized medical marijuana under state law following the federal rescheduling of the drug.
Under Tennessee law, federal reclassification of a substance generally triggers an automatic review by the state's commissioner of health and commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. But under SB1603, which Gov. Bill Lee (R) approved on Thursday, that will not be the case when it comes to cannabis.
"If marijuana is rescheduled or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law, then the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services shall not reschedule or delete marijuana under [state drug laws] unless the general assembly has established a regulatory framework for marijuana and authorized the commissioner to reschedule or delete marijuana as a controlled substance," the bill says.
The governor's action came on the same that the the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it is formally moving forward with marijuana rescheduling. Last month, House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R) said the push to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) could remove roadblocks at the state level.
Read more at Marijuana Moment
