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Tennessee Marijuana Legalization Compared To Surrounding States

By Marissa Velazquez


In the first two decades of the 21st century, the position with regard to Tennessee marijuana legalization still had a long way to go to match up with many other states in the union. Possession of up to one-half ounce was a misdemeanor, carrying fines up to $1,000 and up to six years in jail. Selling the drug was considered a felony with prison sentences starting at one to six years for up to ten pounds to as high as 60 years for the sale of 300 pounds or more. Cultivating the plant was also a felony and earned a fine up to half a million dollars and jail sentences up to 60 years.

Upstream in neighboring Kentucky, the situation is less rigid. Possession of less than 8 oz, a misdemeanor, attracts a fine of $250 and no prison sentence. Trafficking or selling marijuana carries a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for cultivating cannabis plants is a fine of up to $10,000 and a potential jail sentence of no more than 10 years.

As might be expected, the State of California is markedly more lenient. Here, possessing an ounce is virtually the same as a motoring offense with a fine of only $100. It takes a prize idiot to get caught for this. Carrying more than an ounce, use by anyone under the age of 18 or possession on school grounds is more serious and carries correspondingly higher penalties.

Farmers in Tennessee are also forbidden from growing hemp, a highly useful plant that, although related to cannabis, does not produce the same "high" as cannabis. Hemp is as relevant to weed as corn bread is to moonshine. Hemp is a potentially useful plant commercially and can be made into plastics, food, paper, clothes, insulation and many other products. The problem here is that politicians do not understand that the two plants are not the same thing.

Senator Frank Niceley, of Strawberry Fields, is drafting a bill that would legalize hemp. Not only are local crop farmers behind the move, but health food enthusiasts are rooting for it, too. Hemp seeds contain abundant protein and the highly desirable omega-3 fatty acids. Ten other states, including Kentucky, are aiming to legalize hemp.

Unlike some states in America, Tennessee does not recognize or legalize the medical use of cannabis. Widely regarded by the medical community for its therapeutic benefits in Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis and the control of cancer pain, depression, AIDS, glaucoma, epilepsy and many other conditions, state politicians are not so clued up. Hundreds of families are being forced to leave their homes in Tennessee and move to Colorado, where medical use of cannabis is legal, just to protect their children from deadly seizures.

The State of Colorado, which amended its state constitution to permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes, is braced for a wave of medical tourism. With written medical consent, certain patients may possess up to two ounces of the drug and as many as six plants.

The movie, "Reefer Madness, " released in 1938, tried to impress on the public that grass was the devil's work and caused violent behavior. We now know this is not quite the case. The progress of Tennessee marijuana legalization will be interesting to watch.




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