NASHVILLE, Tennessee (LifeSiteNews) — Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation ensuring that the state will not automatically reschedule marijuana to conform with its federal status in anticipation of the Trump administration’s latest move to do just that.
On April 23, Lee signed into law SB 1603, which, as amended, ensures that “if marijuana is rescheduled or deleted as a controlled substance under federal law, the Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services shall not reschedule or delete marijuana as a controlled substance” unless and until Tennessee’s General Assembly decides to authorize the commissioner to do so, according to the legislative summary.
The law requires that what, if any, changes are made to so-called medical marijuana’s legal status in Tennessee will be determined at lawmakers’ own pace rather than rushed to conform to a new federal regime.
“There will have to be conversations about who manufactures it, who tests it, who distributes, which medical illness could it be used for, does this require approval, and a host of other questions,” Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton said.
Lee signed the law on the same day that the Trump administration Department of Justice (DOJ) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that they are moving forward with reclassification of medical marijuana from a Schedule I drug (the classification for narcotics with high potential for abuse and no medical use) to Schedule III drug (a far milder category including off-the-shelf medications such as Tylenol), plus expediting a hearing to begin on June 29 for evaluating “broader changes to marijuana’s status under federal law.”
Supporters framed the move as clearing red tape for medical research. But many say that it is not only unnecessary for the advancement of legitimate medicine but will ultimately be harmful in its broader ramifications for marijuana policy.
Last August, more than 50 organizations, including CatholicVote, Family Research Council, the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, and Eagle Forum signed an open letter to the president saying that marijuana “has not been approved for any medical use by the FDA” and “likely never will,” for the simple reason that “No smokeable (combustible) substance would ever receive approval by the FDA, for example, because of its inherent carcinogenic harm.”
In January, a study published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews found “no clear evidence that cannabis-based medicines provide pain relief for chronic neuropathic pain” after reviewing “21 clinical trials involving more than 2,100 adults, comparing cannabis-based medicines with placebo over periods of two to 26 weeks.”
Further, there is a substantial body of evidence that marijuana use carries significant risks, both to the user and to those around him, despite libertarian arguments that the issue is a “victimless crime” and a matter of personal liberty.
Dozens of studies have found a link between marijuana use and developing psychosis and schizophrenia, particularly when used in one’s teens or early 20s, when the brain is still developing. States that have legalized marijuana have also seen increased deaths from traffic accidents.
Shortly after Colorado became the first state to legalize recreational marijuana in 2012, Sgt. Jim Gerhardt of Denver’s North Metro Drug Task Force said he has “seen children infant age that have been getting into this stuff and hospitalized, and this has been under medical marijuana. I can’t imagine how bad it’s going to get with full blown legalization (…) All the problems we’ve already had have exploded, and I think they are going to get worse.”
President Donald Trump had a mixed record on marijuana in his first term, expressing openness to some rule changes yet rescinding some Obama-era policies that were supportive of so-called medical cannabis, all while advocating capital punishment for drug dealers. In 2024, he endorsed a failed amendment to decriminalize recreational marijuana in Florida after meeting with Kim Rivers, a major legalization donor and CEO of cannabis company Trulieve.