Medical marijuana advocates urge Tennessee police not to oppose new legislation

Proponents of medical marijuana launched their next legislative effort Thursday with an attempt to convince law enforcement officials from across the state not to oppose legal dispensaries selling cannabis products to sick Tennesseans.

Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, said she intends to introduce a bill in the coming months that would create a state government infrastructure to issue marijuana cards and regulate the sale of marijuana vapes, edibles and non-smokable products.

The legislation will be similar to a robust medical marijuana amendment that was drafted last year but never introduced due to a lack of political support. If this year’s bill is going to succeed where others have failed, it needs some support — or at least less opposition — from police chiefs, sheriffs and state law enforcement officials, Bowling said.

“We wouldn’t have had this meeting had we not needed their support and desired their support,” Bowling said. “I hope we get their support for their sake, as well as ours, because I was once where they are. I know, if they will read the research and they will study, they will have a different view.” [Read more at the Tennessean]