Tennessee

Tennessee does not have a medical cannabis program. The state regulates the sale and distribution of hemp-derived cannabinoid (HDC) products under T.C.A. Title 43, Chapter 27, originally established by Public Chapter No. 423 (2024). As of January 1, 2026, regulatory oversight of hemp-derived cannabinoid products transferred from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). There is no patient certification process, no practitioner registration requirement, and no qualifying conditions framework under Tennessee law. Health care practitioners in Tennessee do not have a legal mechanism to certify patients for a medical cannabis program.

However, a separate provision under T.C.A. § 39-17-402 provides a limited possession defense for certain individuals who obtain cannabis oil containing less than 0.9% THC legally from another state. This is not a medical cannabis certification process. It is a statutory exclusion from Tennessee's definition of "marijuana" under criminal law.

For the possession defense to apply, the individual must carry proof that they or an immediate family member has been diagnosed with a qualifying condition by a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed to practice in Tennessee.

The practitioner's role is limited to providing the diagnosis documentation. There is no certification form, no state registration, no continuing education requirement, and no submission to a state agency. The diagnosis must be documented in the patient's medical record consistent with standard professional documentation requirements.

Individuals who have the following medical conditions can possess CBD oil containing less than 0.9% of THC:

• Epilepsy or seizures
• Alzheimer's disease;
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS);
• Cancer, when such disease is diagnosed as end stage or the treatment produces related wasting illness, recalcitrant nausea and vomiting, or pain;
• Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis;
• Multiple sclerosis;
• Parkinson's disease;
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS);
• Sickle cell disease; or
• Quadriplegia

Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act (Title III section 301) which became law on December 2, 2022, and the First Amendment (established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that doctors, and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options).

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