Next year the Tennessee state legislature may look at whether medical marijuana should be available in the state and have agreed to call on state health, agriculture and law enforcement officials to study the issue and report on it no later than February 15. Brilliant – until you learn that the committee did not approve any additional funding for the study, meaning that it will be up to the state’s Board of Pharmacy to decide whether to take up the issue.
If they do decide to move forward on this, the study could set up a debate over medical marijuana next year.
The vote to approve came after several lawmakers on the committee expressed qualms over a bill sponsored by state Rep. Jeanne Richardson, D-Memphis, that would have made it legal for people suffering from serious illnesses or debilitating conditions, such as severe nausea, pain or seizures, to receive prescriptions for cannabis.
Activist, Bernie Ellis, who wrote the bill and presented it the legislature was cautiously optimistic and said he was pleased with the February deadline.
It is estimated that 25,000 Tennesseans use marijuana to deal with chronic conditions or the side effects of diseases such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Currently, of course, their use of the drug is illegal and Ellis’ bill is designed to bring these users the reassurance of knowing they will not be prosecuted for using their medication of choice.
Skeptics are not convinced, however, saying there has not been enough research on medicinal uses of weed.
Family medic, Rep Joey Hensley, said “We don’t know how to prescribe it. We don’t know what doses any problem needs. Any other drug, we have a certain dose, a certain time to use it, a certain way to use it. There’s just a lot of issues with marijuana I see as a physician who’s prescribing other medications.”
The study was agreed as a compromise.
Given such resistance, supporters of medical marijuana have abandoned their plans to pass legislation legalizing it in favor of the study group led by the Board of Pharmacy. Among others, this board would include representatives from the Board of Medical Examiners, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Sheriffs’ Association and the Department of Agriculture.
Richardson thinks that, with a certain amount of cajoling, the board would be able to learn from the experience of states where medical marijuana has been legalized. However, Hensley said later that he doubted the group would make much progress.
TN should really legalize this stuff. I don’t have anything to do with it, but my brother does. He suffers from ADHD/ADD and bad moodswings…. his temper flairs and he’s ready to beat someone to death… but after smoking this, he’s fine… he can act and interact with society like a normal person without wanting to hurt himself or others….
I completley agree. I have ADHD really bad & the only way I can focus is smoking. I take the required medication for ADHD & all that is is legal meth. I don’t like it. I feel that smoking a natural herb is much better than taking a cemical put in a pill form. There is so much pill issues in TN that if they started perscribing marijuana instead of these narcotic medication things would be better. I come from OR were it is legal & the benifits are huge for people with ADHD & Cancer & other severe pain.
i agree . my hubby is ill with a mental condition and had to move back to cali because the meds dont calm him like the medical marijuna does, i miss him and want him to come home.
I agree with most people on this one i would rather see someone smoking one than taking a pill i have had a couple friends die from overdose and with marijuana i have never heard of that.
Like it said in the article the woman was talkin about we have a certain time and way of using it.. and so do the people in california but there is no certain time to use it because u can use it whenever you need it not like pills ( when u have to have a certain time and way).
Pretty much it just needs to be legal in tennessee it would make people that feel like there life is over ( like bed sick people) actually enjoy life and it might even stop people from doing other drugs..But maybe one day this state will find the need for some smoke and realize its not harming but bettering you.
I am a 53 year old female patient suffering from chronic migraines with severe nausea/vomiting for the past 26 years. I was living in Florida in 1995 when I had such a severe migraine that I was vomiting and my pain medication wasn’t working so my husband took me to the hospital emergency room and they gave me shot of Demerol and phenergan and it didn’t work either.
I went home still in severe pain and ended up in bed in the dark for the next 3 days. Well on day 4, my 18 year old daughter came home with a marijuana cigarette and said mom try this, it’ll help your migraine and you’ll stop throwing up. Now I knew it was against the law , but at this point I was willing to try anything because the pain was so bad and I was so sick!!!!!!! It was like a miracle drug, I couldn’t believe it!!!!!!! Within minutes,, the nausea was gone!!!!!!! I mean gone!!!!! the pain was gone, completely, within minutes!!!!!!!!!! I was hungry, really hungry!!!!!!! I had what they called the munchies!!!! I wanted to eat everything in sight and I hadn’t eaten in 3 days and had lost 5 lbs.
Well, I called my doctor and told him about this miracle marijuana cigarette!!!! There was a cure out there for migraines and nausea/vomiting and who knows what else and it was being kept away from patients because it’s illegal. My doctor told me that if he could have, he would prescribe it for me, but he couldn’t because it was illegal!!!!!!!
He told me that I should move to California where it was legal for medicinal purposes and I wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Well, I couldn’t move from there, I had a job and a life and family in Florida, so for 10 years, I used marijuana for my migraines and nausea because I didn’t suffer with the pain and I was happy. I know it was illegal, but I was able to work and function like a normal human being because of it.
Well in 2005, I had to move to Tennessee because of a family emergency. My migraines have come back and I suffer from them again. They have become even worse and more frequent and I have become disabled from them and other illnesses over recent years. I now suffer from osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, edema, thyroid, asthma, allergies, gastrointestinal problems, insomnia, bi-polar, anxiety, depression, nausea and vomiting. Can you believe it!!!!!!!! I was once a healthy woman, able to work and function like everyone else!!!!!!!
Now I struggle to get out of bed every day. I write this letter as I have now been in bed with a migraine of 3 days and if marijuana were medically legal in Tennessee, I would use it again, right now, to get rid of this migraine. I don’t know anybody, who in their right mind, would intentionally want to let anyone suffer in pain, when they could vote to legalize a substance that could take away this pain or for treating any other medical condition.
I’m sure that my doctors would prescribe marijuana for my migraines and other medical conditions I have if it were medically legal in Tennessee. Please vote to make marijuana legal for me and other sick people or people in severe pain, that it could help bring back their livelihood !!!!!!!!
legalize weed please, it helps my deppresion.
Speaking from a nurse (point of view)
I have worked with cancer victim’s in the past and victims of chronic pain, I have noted that moriphine injections did not ease the pain. The Doctor ordered a marijiuana cigerate for the pain and it was like a miracle. The patient , who was dieing , began to sit up in bed and laugh and talk to the visiting relatives. They would tell me that the pain was tolerable after smoking the cig. Had I not witnessed this with my own eyes I would not have believed it.
This was done back in the 80′s , when drugs were not as prevelant. Since that time, I do say that I believe that Marijiuana should be grown for medical purposes. I submit that this would be much safer than the many different drugs that have been placed on the market for pain and discomfort and nervous conditions.
In past years , drugs could not be marketed and distributed to the public until 5 and as much as 10 year studies were done on them for harmful side effects. Now, I am told that some are not tested , just marketed and distributed. ( Thats why so many law suits ).
I would much rather see patients takeing marij. ( in capsule form, breathing treatments, in food etc.) than to see them hooked on
moriphine or any of the addictive type drugs.
I have been trying to figure out why it has never been given for pain and discomfort nor has it been given for anxiety, nervousness, stress etc. In my experiences as a nurse, I have noted that zanax, valium, soma, prozac, codiene, just to name a FEW desired by many, are very addictive drugs and are desired/prescribed by many. A lot of times taken for recreational purposes.
It is my belief that Nurses are aware of this and their educated opinion should have a bearing on these particular issues.
We, the Nurses see and take note.
San
I have a blood diease. The only thing that helps has been marijuana! Please help us.
I say legalize it. How many people have died from using it?? None. How many overdoses. None.
Weed makes you hungry and tired. I work hard and long hours and when i finally am ready to go to bed i can smoke and sleep without taking a bunch of pills for my back pain. I need surgery and i am an insomniac even without all the pills i take for pain and anxiety. Weed calms me down and makes me happy. Like it should every single person in this world.
Legalize it please Obama. I really dont like you but I’D love you of you legalized pot.
Chris says:”Legalize it please Obama. I really dont like you but I’D love you of you legalized pot.
This is the problem, and this is why weed still isn’t legal: It’s because of spineless people like you who act as if the president and the federal government is your daddy, or is God. Have you and all the others like you forgot about the tenth amendment? YOU are the boss of the federal government. WE the people. As soon as enough of us GET THAT THROUGH OUR HEAD, there will be enough of us to show the federal government what the tenth amendment is about! STOP acting as if these crooks are our breadwinners, and our mommies and daddies!
THEY are NOT! WE are their bosses! Those scum bags that feed off of grovelling, spineless peasants (& what they think of you… they actually refer to us as the & quote inferior social stratum& quote) like you that don’t understand or are apathetic to your constitutional rights and the history of this country COUNT on you being complacent & gullible so they can screw you over with IMF funded ponzi schemes such as the Bailouts!
LOOK at the fxxxing TSA grabbing your infant’s genitals! THIS IS NAZI GERMANY! HOW much will you morons TAKE!
citizens in tennessee need to contact their state reps and senators, speak with lobbyists who now the right approach, and communicate in a professional and thoughtful manner.
Though i do not use cannibis now (my choice for my family based on current laws) i agree that legalization makes absolute sense medically, socially, and certainly in the effect it would have on prison populations and the existing international black market.
But making a difference at the capital with reps and senators will take continual communication with a consistent message and, ultimately, those reps/senators reaching the conclusing that enough voters see the advantages of legalization.
I am allergic to all my prescribed medications and the only thing to help my pain is marijuana. There is nothing wrong with it. If god didnt want it here he would not of planted it.
I am so sick of these people who do not live in constant pain and dont smoke Marijuana telling everyone O its doesn’t help with pain.
Well lets drop a anvil on your foot then smoke a joint and you will understand it helps. I wish those people would get my pain for one hour, then smoke some, it would be legal by the end of the day if they all had it at once. It not only helps with pain but panic and anger.
I know I have to live without it now that I live in TN and I am suffering for it.
umm… im pretty sure you, can’t make a PLANT illegal?, anyways im all for legalizing.
Have you ever seen a person under the influence of marijuana, start a fight ,drive crazy, have bad with draws, and ever person I have ever seen on it has always worked there ass of I use to when I smoked wasn’t depressed no anxiety attack.
I would smoke and go to the track and run a mile. I lost 145LB ,NOW IM CONSTIPATED BEFORE I HADE STAEDY AND REGULAR BOWEL MOVEMENT. Some times I would get a little paranoid but it depended on what strand I was smoking but do you think a paranoid person going to go rob a bank I don’t think so see when you set at home and worry about stupid stuff and you also have pain the smoke makes you mind race a little and you just forget about all the bad stuff the benefits very much out weight the stuff that makes it illegal.
Look at the taxes state, local and government will make a year just from this I’m all for it I don’t smoke know but know I’m depressed, have anxiety attacks and along with other thing i know we would see a dramatic decrease in violence and theft, free up space in the prison for people whom actually committed a crime not for someone who is charged with Mary Jane.
Put away the people who have committed rape, child molesters and murders. Think about the money it cost to house these marijuana prisoners when the could be out making a living paying taxes to keep the rapes, etc-in prison, give this bill a chance see how it works and go from there.
I think you should be able to grow you own plants not exceeding 15 and have no more than 25 grams of marijuana in possession as long as the person has got the package stamp from the state a the county’s local office and the stamp is only good for 5 or 8 days and you have to get the stamp and then go home and put you personal use in it.
Make the stamp cost 25 to 45 dollar need a tax break for a state in debt well there you go, really see this as a win win situation and you have to be over 21 to go and get a stamp and to be able to posses weed so please take this in to consideration thanks.
Rick
I really hope it becomes legal in TN. Ive lived there my whole life but recently moved to NM where I met my boyfriend who has had seizures since he was 1 yr old. Medical cannabis is legal here and has kept him seizure free since he has smoked it. I am hoping to show him my hometown and move back but I he cant take it with him ya know. I know from experience it works so why the big deal on legalizing medical marijuana? Its not like your gonna die from it!
i have cancer and wish i could live my last days pain free with a good demeanor and state of mind… legalize
I know a great place to grow acres and acres of weed in tennessee. Bring it on.
As for prescribing marijuana, education is seriously needed for Tennessee. Send some study groups to California and you’ll understand the dosages! It’s not rocket science and no one dies from it, like FDA approved dosages of many drugs that should NOT be on the market.