In this issue, we have a look at the state’s long and complicated relationship with cannabis — both industrial hemp, which can be grown by licensed farmers as part of a state pilot program, and marijuana, the use of which is still illegal both for medical and recreational purposes. We meet Arlie Wolfe, a 3-year-old leukemia patient whose parents say hemp extracts containing the nonpsychoactive cannabis compound CBD are helping ease her pain. We also talk to Will Tarleton, a licensed Middle Tennessee industrial hemp farmer whose crops can be used to produce everything from hemp extracts like the ones Arlie takes to textiles and livestock feed. We examine the statistics around marijuana arrests, which vastly outpace those related to more dangerous drugs, and examine just how many Tennesseans support marijuana decriminalization. We also talk to a seemingly unlikely medical marijuana supporter — Republican state House Speaker Beth Harwell — and examine the likelihood of its passage in the state.
For patients like 3-year-old Arlie Wolfe, hemp products including CBD might offer some hope
By D. Patrick Rodgers
Marijuana arrests in the state vastly outpace those related to more dangerous drugs
By Amanda Haggard
The Republican-dominated state legislature is closer than ever to passing medical marijuana legislation
By Stephen Elliott
