A proposal to decriminalize medical marijuana that had gained momentum in recent weeks was narrowly defeated in the Tennessee House on Tuesday, though the bill's sponsor says the effort isn't dead for the year.
In its final meeting scheduled this session, the House criminal justice committee voted down Rep. Bryan Terry's bill 9-8, following two hours of debate and appearances by the chamber's top parliamentary and legal officials.
Terry, R-Murfreesboro, said afterward his fight to push the medical cannabis issue forward hasn't ended for the year. The General Assembly is expected to conclude its business for the year next week, though last-minute negotiating plays a role in the final days of session.
"There are two other bills out there,so the issue's not dead yet," Terry said following the bill's defeat in committee.
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He has worked with Sen. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, to advance the medical cannabis bill further than any similar legislation has previously made it in Tennessee. Massey's billcleared Senate committees and is supposed to be up for a vote on the Senate floor, though it appears officials in the upper chamber have been waiting for the House committee vote before scheduling her bill.
Terry did not elaborate on his plans to resurrect the measure in the next week.
"It’s a coin flip right now, if we do anything legislatively or not, if this bill gets signed into law," said Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville, who made a motion to send the bill to summer study, citing the need for more discussions about it.
Gov. Bill Lee has remained opposed to marijuana legalization, including for medical products.
Rep. Michael Curcio, R-Dickson, who chairs the committee, used his position's authority to quell that effort by a voice vote— one that sounded evenly divided, if not louderfrom those supporting Hawk's idea for a summer study.
"I could not more vehemently oppose a motion to summer study," Curcio said, reminding the committee that the legislature conducted a similar study when he was a freshman legislator, and has heard much of the same testimony over the years. "We cannot wait."
An unexpected supporter of the legislation, Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, told the committee he felt "the need to do something."
"I feel the need for us to not let it die," Sexton said.
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He pointed to a boy in the audience and his mother, third-grader T.J. Ramsey and Holly Ramsey.
Ramsey explained her son, who is in a wheelchair and who suffers from epileptic seizures due to cerebral palsy, is in need of access to medical cannabis products. Anti-seizure medications would rob him of his personality in order to offer him relief from the physical effects of epilepsy.
"Something should be worked out for T.J. and people like him, that we don’t continue to hinder their ability or their right to try," she said.
Holly Ramsey said the law which would allow people with 11 debilitating illnesses, whose doctors have signed a letter attesting that other treatments have already been tried, possess a limited amount of medical cannabis products without fear of prosecution.
The bill does not permit the sale of the products in Tennessee, nor does it allow doctors in the state to prescribe marijuana for those patients.
"This law protects those who are law-abiding and who need an opportunity to be protected to take care of our children," Ramsey said.
Representatives from Lee's administration came to testify against the bill, including a legislative liaison from his office who said the governor remains opposed to changing state law on marijuana until the drug is reclassified federally.
The liaison, Callon Schmid, did not say whether Lee would veto the bill if it were passed.
Members of groups representing law enforcement and prosecutors also spoke out against the bill, saying it would be difficult for police to know who is legally in possession of the medical marijuana products.
Rep. G.A. Hardaway, D-Memphis, said it wasn't the legislature's primary objective to make law enforcement's job easier.
"If someone's going to have problems, let it be the DA," Hardaway said. "Let it be the THP. Let it be the TBI. Let it be us."
House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville, came out in support of the legislation last week. House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, a member of the committee, has remained opposed.
Voting yes on the legislation were Reps. Bill Beck, Michael Curcio, Vincent Dixie, Clay Doggett, Andrew Farmer, G.A. Hardaway, London Lamar and Jerry Sexton.
Representatives voting no were Scotty Campbell, Bruce Griffey, Davis Hawk, Dan Howell, Bud Hulsey, William Lamberth, Debra Moody, Lowell Russell and PaulSherrell.
Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.
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