Is weed legal in Tennessee?

Recreational status

Recreational cannabis is not legal in Tennessee. (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06: Controlled Substances in Schedule VI)

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06 classifies 'Marijuana' and 'Tetrahydrocannabinols' as Schedule VI controlled substances, with no adult-use exception. Public Chapter 577 (2021) 68-7-101(b) separately confirms that no cannabis program, medical or otherwise, is currently authorized to operate in Tennessee: licenses for a medical cannabis program 'shall not be issued ... until marijuana is removed from Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act.' No registered source for Tennessee creates an adult-use exception.

Tennessee lists marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols on its own Schedule VI, and that list carves out no exception for an adult buyer. Turning 21 opens the licensed hemp shelf to you and nothing beyond it.

Medical status

A medical cannabis program runs in Tennessee, and it reaches only low-THC or CBD preparations. (Tennessee Public Chapter 577 (2021): An Act Relative to the Regulation of Cannabis for Medical Use (Medical Cannabis Commission))

Public Chapter 577, Section 1 creates a Medical Cannabis Commission that only studies and prepares future legislation; it 'does not authorize a medical cannabis program to operate in this state.' Section 3 separately amends the statutory definition of 'marijuana' to exclude cannabidiol oil under nine-tenths of one percent (0.9%) THC, but only for a person (or immediate family member) who holds proof of a legal order or recommendation from another, issuing state and who has been diagnosed by a Tennessee-licensed physician with intractable seizures or epilepsy, or with one of several other named diseases (Alzheimer's, ALS, end-stage or wasting/nauseating/painful cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, HIV/AIDS, or sickle cell disease) plus a valid letter of attestation. There is no Tennessee patient registry, card, or dispensary; the oil must already be lawfully obtained under another state's authority.

The exclusion reaches a person who already holds cannabidiol oil obtained under another state's order, and a Tennessee physician still has to make the diagnosis behind it. No state registry, card, or dispensary sits underneath any of this, and no program license may issue while marijuana remains in the federal Schedule I.

Hemp-derived products

Tennessee permits the sale of hemp-derived products and limits which ones. (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0100-16-.04: Manner of Sale (Rules for Retail Sale of Hemp-Derived Cannabinoid Products))

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0100-16-.04 requires a licensed hemp-derived cannabinoid product (HDCP) retailer to verify a purchaser is at least twenty-one years old, bars sale through vending machines, unstaffed kiosks, or self-checkout, requires the product be kept behind a counter or otherwise staff-assisted, and requires a posted intoxication warning sign. Rule 0100-16-.02(2)(j) defines an HDCP to include ingestible, inhalable, and transdermal hemp-derived cannabinoid products alike -- inhalable forms are regulated, not banned outright. Rule 0940-06-01-.13 is the underlying exclusion: cannabis plant material and products meeting the federal hemp definition incorporated at 21 C.F.R. 1308.35 are excluded from all controlled-substance schedules, which is what makes a compliant HDCP lawful to sell at all.

The Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission runs this shelf: a licensed store verifies you are 21, keeps the products staff-assisted or behind the counter, and posts an intoxication warning. Inhalable forms sit inside those rules rather than outside them, and no sale runs through a vending machine, an unstaffed kiosk or self-checkout.

Home cultivation

Information coming soon

Possession and purchase limits

The possession limit, as Tennessee states it: No possession threshold or quantity is stated. Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06 classifies marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols as Schedule VI controlled substances without setting an amount, weight, or exception. (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06: Controlled Substances in Schedule VI)

On buying, Tennessee states: No purchase quantity is stated for marijuana. Tennessee's registered sources establish no lawful in-state marijuana purchase channel; a person may possess cannabidiol oil under nine-tenths of one percent (0.9%) tetrahydrocannabinol only if already lawfully obtained under another state's authorization, and that exemption caps the oil's THC concentration, not the amount that may be possessed or purchased. (Tennessee Public Chapter 577 (2021): An Act Relative to the Regulation of Cannabis for Medical Use (Medical Cannabis Commission))

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06 (the register's other source for this question) is a Schedule VI substance list and states no purchase amount either.

No weight in Tennessee's rule marks the point where possession stops being an offense, because the schedule states no amount at all. The nine-tenths of one percent figure caps the oil's strength rather than the quantity you may hold or buy.

Minimum age

There is no recreational channel in Tennessee, so no recreational age applies. (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06: Controlled Substances in Schedule VI)

Null because Tennessee has no adult-use channel; see adult_use_status.

Tennessee sets no minimum age for a patient. (Tennessee Public Chapter 577 (2021): An Act Relative to the Regulation of Cannabis for Medical Use (Medical Cannabis Commission))

The cannabidiol-oil exclusion in Public Chapter 577, Section 3 runs to 'the person or the person's immediate family member' diagnosed with a qualifying disease or condition, with no age stated for either the diagnosed person or the family member who may hold the oil on their behalf. There is no patient registry or card system to attach an age to.

Tennessee's exclusion names a diagnosed person and an immediate family member without stating how old either must be, and no card or registry exists to hang an age on. The one counter the state licenses does have an age: a hemp-derived product retailer sells only to buyers 21 and over.

Where you can buy

You can buy lawfully from a retailer of hemp-derived or CBD products. (Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0100-16-.04: Manner of Sale (Rules for Retail Sale of Hemp-Derived Cannabinoid Products))

Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0100-16-.04 confirms a licensed HDCP retailer sells hemp-derived cannabinoid products at retail, subject to the age, staffing, and signage conditions in hemp_product_status. Public Chapter 577 creates no Tennessee dispensary or patient-purchase channel -- its cannabidiol-oil exclusion depends on the oil already being lawfully obtained under another state's authority. Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0940-06-01-.06 establishes no adult-use channel: marijuana remains a Schedule VI controlled substance.

These shops hold a hemp-derived cannabinoid product license from the state, and that license is the whole of what they may sell you. Nothing in Tennessee is licensed to sell marijuana itself, however the sign out front reads.

The Tennessee store list names the hemp and CBD retailers this site holds a record for.

Federal law applies here too, and it is not the same. Read what federal law says about weed.