Tennessee Marijuana Legalization - Is There Hope For Hemp

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.

Penalties in nearby Kentucky are considerably less severe. Possession of less than eight ounces is a misdemeanor with a fine of $250 and no jail time. Sale or trafficking carries a jail sentence of between one and twenty years and fines of between $500 and $10,000. The maximum prison sentence for cultivation is no more than ten years and no more than a $10,000 fine.

In California, punishment for possessing small amounts (28.5 grams or one ounce) are practically nonexistent. Simple possession is regarded as an infraction, in the same manner as a traffic offense, and carries a fine of $100. You have to be a special kind of stupid to get caught with this small an amount. Penalties are modestly higher for amounts higher than 28.5 grams, use by minors or possession on school grounds.

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 world has come a long way since the 1938 film, "Reefer Madness." It will be interesting to see what direction Tennessee marijuana legalization takes in the future.