Tennessee House of Representatives 112th House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee, 4 May 2021

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From YouTube: House Finance Committee- May 4, 2021

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House Finance Committee- May 4, 2021

A

I'd like to call the finance ways and means committee to order for may 4th 2021.. Mr clerk, please call the roll.

B

Of president's bomb camper uh campbell, camper crawford, fazen, freeman, gantz garrett, gillespie, hawk hicks, lamar, lamberth lynn, miller, ogles, sexton shaw sparks todd, whitson williams, wendell zachary, chairman baum, chairman hazelwood, I'm chairman, you have a quorum.

A

Thank you, mr clerk. Do we have any personal orders or announcements before we begin right sing? None. We have one bill on our calendar today we have a motion and a second that's house bill 490 by chairman, terry chairman, terry you're, recognized.

C

Thank you, chairman in committee, um and what this bill does. It has essentially five parts to it: one. It sets up a medical cannabis commission in order to help develop a non-biased medical cannabis program, for when the federal government removes cannabis from schedule. One number two: it sets up a process for decriminalizing possession of 0.9 thc cannabis oil for a limited number of patients with certain diseases. Currently uh epilepsy or seizures can get the 0.9 oil they're decriminalized. This just adds eight to that list.

C

It has the commission prioritize their recommendations for the creation of a patient registration system in order to facilitate reciprocity and access for patients, including those nine groups of patients to obtain the 0.9 oil.

C

It prohibits what I call a corporate medical cannabis program until cannabis is removed from schedule, one so that that means cultivation, distribution, processing or shipping of cannabis.

C

uh The definition does have the exclusions for patients and for research, so that if we want to advance measures for patients or research as far as either from the universities or whatever that's something we could do in in the future, the feasibility this bill is funded in the budget. Speaker sexton is supportive of the bill. The governor governor lee has removed his philosophical flag of the bill. Departments of safety and health, as well as the sheriff's and the chiefs of police are deferred, and the bill, as lest I checked, was going to the senate calendar.

A

You've heard the sponsor's explanation: are there any questions.

A

Chairman williams, you're recognized.

D

Thank you, uh cheerleading. uh Thank you, chairman terry. This is a subject matter of which you and I have had discussions. I think, since you walked through the door many years ago, and so I want to commend you on your effort as it relates to this. This was not what you wanted, but I think it's a good place to be uh right now. I do think, as it relates to this uh bill. I think a commission is a really good idea.

D

I do uh want to thank you also for not including ptsd uh in this list, as I uh as I agree that there are some uh who served in our military who have ptsd who could benefit from these, but it not being in the list. I just wanted to draw attention to you there because it's been a point of of angst.

D

I guess for me over the years when we passed this years ago, we did pass a bill which would allow for the growing of medical marijuana at an institution of tennessee tech in my district for a period of four years, because we felt like a clinical trial was important. This body confirmed it. So did the senate when we did that, however, the dea quickly put a an end to that opportunity.

D

uh As soon as we passed, the bill and tech was not able to do that in conjunction with etsu. My theory is that this bill, and I'm hoping you can clarify, is whether it's a clinical trial through vanderbilt children's hospital or le bonner. You can still do clinical trials with these substances, even even after this bill is passed or no.

A

Chairman terry.

C

Thank you specifically in the bill. It says what is a medical cannabis program and it says, does not include a four-year public or private institution of higher education operating under pursu operating pursuant to 39-17-402. So that includes your university mtsu and it specifically does not uh talk about research in part, a of that.

D

Okay, so if, if vanderbilt children's hospital wanted to do it and that's a hospital and not the institution of higher learning, they can still do that.

A

Chairman terry.

C

Thank you uh if they're not prohibited from doing it now. uh Are you talking about point three percent oil or point nine percent oil because I'd either for point three, they would not be prohibited from point three percent oil. uh This does not uh necessarily grant them authority to do point. Nine percent oil.

A

Chairman williams,.

D

Does the these individuals that get these um medicines from other states can they can they receive them by mail currently or do they have to go in person to get them.

A

C

Terry, thank you. I think that some may get them my mail. I don't know how they get them. I think that uh some go to other states and get them. That was one of the issues in here. For the uh I don't know, if you were you were here, uh we had uh tj that came and testified as far as getting the commission getting a registry up.

C

You know he takes point three oil, because his mom won't get them go, go above that level to go somewhere else to get them, but if she would be able to get registered, get him registered and she could potentially go to arkansas or to to georgia or some another state and get him that way.

D

Okay, chairman williams, thank you when we passed this legislation which enact enabled these eight other diagnoses to happen. I had a young man in my district who his name is john alex, who used these medicines.

D

He had special needs and his parents called me I'm turning kevin vaughan, the uh the uh um whom I love but the uh uh his parents. He was 17 when he started taking them and uh the first night they ever slept through the night as a couple since he was born, was after taking these. So my father-in-law passed away from prostate cancer after a seven year battle and opioids, and I wish there was the opportunity for him to try something like this back then. So I think it's really important what you're doing.

D

I think it's really important what the commission is purpose to do, and so I will be supporting your bill. Thank you.

C

A

Chairman todd.

E

Thank you, madam chair. I I'm trying to get my hands around this, as, as you know, I'm seeing the the last amendment today and am not. Am I clear that we're doing really two things: we're creating a commission to study a number of things that's laid out in the bill, but we're also adding some conditions to a list. That's already in code where up 2.9 thc products can be utilized for. Is that correct.

A

Chairman terry.

C

That is essentially yeah since that's correct. Yes,.

A

E

um I I would I just want to- I guess- get something on the record that that I've mentioned before in other committees um a couple years ago, when we as a legislature got our laws dealing with hemp in line with the federal farm act. At that time, I had to do a lot of research on that, and one of the things that I learned through that whole process, a very lengthy process, was that anything you want from quote marijuana.

E

You can get from hemp. The concentrations of thc are definitely less, but in a lab setting, they can be concentrated to this point, nine percent or pretty much anything else. You want any other percent that you would like. So I would just caution that going down this road, I'm very concerned about, because every single state that I know of that has gone down a medical marijuana or medical cannabis. Road has ended up with recreational at some point.

E

Usually it's fairly quickly and I'm very concerned about that, and I would just implore our members to note that again anything you want medically out of this plant, you can get from a legal plant called hemp every single component, so I'm just very cautious about it. I probably won't support this bill for that very reason, because I just think we're going down a dangerous road.

E

I appreciate the intent of it and I think there are a lot of very good things that come from hemp, the hemp plant and cannabis plant, but I think we do it in the right realm. Then we get the benefits that the previous speaker mentioned as well as benefits that many friends of mine tell me they get from uh from hemp oil from certain products uh in that uh realm.

E

So I appreciate you bringing this in the intent of it for sure and and uh especially knowing your profession and your background and the research you've done on this. Thank you, president.

A

F

Thank you, madam chair later, thank you representative for the bill, although I think it's uh any snails paste, but it's movement.

F

You may have an answer to this question. I think you you did answer it earlier meetings, but since 2006- probably prior to that, do you know that tennessee has been maybe three at some point two in the production of marijuana plants in this country.

F

Do you were you aware of that.

A

German, terry.

C

Yes, in fact, the last I'd heard we are third in the country as far as recreational marijuana behind california and uh kentucky.

F

But second, or third, since 2006 and or before 2006 in the production of the plants, which tells me one of two things- we got some of the uh the best soil in the country or we are unable to eradicate that.

F

In other words, to do away with it, where we will be number 10., we haven't done that in 10 years and chances are we never ever going to do it.

F

So this whole idea that you have over 30. I think states in this country that have legalized medical marijuana from a state perspective.

F

You would think that there would be a blueprint out there where common sense kicks in to the state of tennessee.

F

All of all of those states out there we can go to, and we can ask all of these questions that we have and get some idea of how they have been operating since the legalization of medical malware in their states and tennessee.

F

We are surrounded by that, but yet we always think that we can be number one.

F

Many cases we're not in many cases we're behind the progressive ideas of improving the lives of our citizens and, as we make these arguments, I'm listening to representative section sexton and when he talked about, I think his sister who had a situation and he even offered he offered that to her.

F

I at that point probably jumped out of my chair to think that that happened and how passionate he was about this you've said that you would not accept any amendments, that's unfortunate, but I understand why you will not accept any amendments because we're trying to get at least to this point, but I'll assure you. This is something that many of us been working on for the last 10 years.

F

It's nothing new, we're just very, very slow about it, and sometimes I look in the mirror and I think, representative miller, are you using common sense? Are you facing reality, and sometimes I have to say to myself? No, I'm not!

F

Now I sometimes have to question my colleagues.

F

Do they look in the mirror sometimes and ask that same question of themselves, because in many cases, they're not using common sense or facing the reality of this issue, it's a very slow pace, but I'm going to support it and hopefully, at some point in time you absolutely right all of those I think at some point in time it may become recreational.

F

What and those that think. Okay, this is a gateway to bad drugs. Opioids, a gateway alcohol is a gateway to what so, let's stop saying it's a gateway too.

F

C

Chairman just I thank you for your comments and I uh I agree, um you know us being third in the nation uh in recreation- it's already there, um but for a patient standpoint for patient safety, taking this step, getting them off that wreck market, if it's something they may do, if they can go this route uh to help those patients I'm here to advocate for them. But I appreciate your comments. Thank you.

A

Representative ogles.

G

Thank you, man, chair this, this number that we're third in the nation recreational. Where is that? Coming from what data I mean, is this a real thing, or is this something just got passed around up here is: does that come from tbi or some agency that we're third in the nation recreational, and does that mean recreational growing or use for the record place.

A

Chairman terry.

C

Thank you. I've slept since I got that number, but I the last I checked it was like a between as around a 1.5 billion dollar. Industry was what I had uh had received here in the state of tennessee, and that was maybe from a couple years ago from that that information.

A

Leader, lambert.

E

Move previous question.

A

Previous question has been called: are there any objections, seeing none we're voting on house bill 490 all in favor of house bill, 490 moving on to calendar and rules, please signify by saying aye any opposed if you'd like to be recorded as a no, please see the clerk, you guys have it house bill 490 moves on to calendar and rules. Thank.

H

You chairman, zachary you're, recognized. Thank you, madam chair members. There was a slight change in the schedule. Calendar and rules will meet after civil, full we've got civil civil sub next civil full, then calendar rules. Thank you, madam chair.

A

Thank you that completes our calendar today. I see noah further business. We stand in.

A

A