With Tennessee’s new hemp regulations going into effect this month, businesses like Clara Jane say 50 percent of their products — “smokables” — will be eliminated.
Under new state regulations, joints, vapes and flower containing THCA will no longer be legal to sell at the East Nashville cannabis store and other similar businesses. THCA is what’s known as a cannabinoid — a chemical compound found in cannabis that can be extracted. The sale of THCA was essentially a loophole in the state, legal under Tennessee’s hemp laws. But when burned, THCA converts to the compound THC — a psychoactive (or “high”-producing) cannabinoid that has not yet been legalized.
Tennesseans can still get cannabinoids in small doses through edibles and beverages with 15 milligrams per serving or less. They’re also available only at 21-and-up establishments — leaving out gas stations and similar all-ages establishments.
Another big change: The regulation of hemp products has been moved from the Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, as mandated by the Tennessee General Assembly in 2025. U.S. Congress followed suit, passing a law in November 2025 to close the THCA loophole nationally by November of this year.
The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission has received 1,980 total applications from hemp product makers, with 1,019 processed and 901 of those approved so far, as of this writing. That leaves 961 applications still open, with an average wait time of 29 days, according to a TABC spokesperson. While the application window opened on Dec. 20, the spokesperson also notes that an influx of 556 applications arrived on or after June 1. Each application pays a $500 fee.
Talking to the commission’s Aaron Rummage about the regulation and enforcement of new hemp laws
Over the years, Clara Jane founder Ali Drumright has formed trusting relationships with product manufacturers. She says she’d like to buy directly from the owner of Cali Sober, for example, but as of January, manufacturers now have to sell to wholesalers or distributors — a middle man.
While customers stocked up on their smokables before July 1, Clara Jane leaned into self-care products, including lion’s mane and other mushrooms, in addition to the edibles that are still legal to carry. Consider It Flowers, a delivery service for THCA products, shut down last month, as their business will now be obsolete under the new regulations. Local cannabis store Perfect Plant, like Clara Jane, has vowed to stay open and diversify its offerings.
“There’s not a lot of us, and it’s really, really sad to see that small community get just stomped out,” Drumright tells the Scene. “I feel really confident about Clara Jane, and what we are, and what we do for our community, that we’re gonna hang around for sure. We won’t be closing our doors.”
Even as a since-dismissed federal lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s hemp regulatory framework made its way through the courts, when Jay Mitchell learned about the proposed changes, he pivoted. He could no longer sell directly to retailers with his contract gummy manufacturing business and instead focused on a new, compliant gummy under his own brand, Mighty Fine. He says his gummies are the first registered in the state under the new rules.
Mitchell says he’s among a few business owners in the industry who are happy that the TABC has taken over regulations.
“The hemp space has a history of new rules, new threats that get postponed, or injunctions happen, or something always seems to cancel the threat, ” Mitchell says.“When I saw the ABC get involved last year after last year’s legislative session, I knew it was finally getting handed to an adult agency that was capable of enforcement.”
That enforcement will include a class-A misdemeanor for unlicensed manufacturing, distribution and sale. If now-illegal products are sold to a minor, that misdemeanor will include 48 hours of mandatory jail time. Hemp suppliers will also be required to have their products batch-tested, with test results available through a QR code on the product. In addition, the commission will conduct routine inspections and undercover operations to ensure compliance.
“We have been in a continued battle with the state since I’ve been in the industry,” Drumright says. “At this point it’s kind of gotten as bad as it’s been. We’ve come to a head.”
What Drumright and Mitchell have in common is a desire to see cannabis legalized in the future, including sensible regulations. About half of the nation has made marijuana legal for recreational use, and Tennessee is one of only 10 states that do not allow it for medical purposes. In 2018, the U.S. Farm Bill allowed expanded hemp agriculture in Tennessee, and business owners say some of the regulations added since that time have been positive — like ensuring products aren’t marketed to kids.
“I’d love to see our state finally get a grip with what cannabis consumption really looks like,” Mitchell says. “We’re way behind on that. What we’re doing now to try to limit some more of these riskier products and put real products and age-gated retail with real consumer protection is a major stride for our state.”
Drumright is confident that it’s only a matter of time before the state legalizes THC.
“We’re in a prohibition right now with THC in Tennessee — there is no getting around it going legal or medical at some point,” she says. “Tennessee doesn’t have a choice. They are embarrassing themselves by pushing it off for so long.”
