Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains may be getting a little smokier 🌿

POT FOR POTHOLES
Deep-Red Tennessee weighs a legalization bill

The Great Smoky Mountains may be getting a little smokier. 

Tennessee lawmakers are set to introduce a bill in the state legislature next week that would legalize and tax recreational cannabis in order to raise money to fix the state’s roads.

What’s in the bill: The Tennessee Pot for Potholes Act would allow cannabis sales for adults over the age of 21 and levy a 15% tax.

The revenue would go to fix the state’s roads and crumbling infrastructure. Seventy-five percent would be allocated to road and bridge repairs, and 20% would go to local governments. 

Read the full bill text here. 

What they’re saying: “Our roads are crumbling, and traffic is getting worse. After 14 years of Republican control, we have over a $38 million backlog of highway and bridge repairs,” State Senator Heidi Campbell, a Democrat and sponsor of the bill, said.

On the other side: Republicans are, of course, against the bill. 

“I’m against both pot and potholes,” Republican House Majority Leader William Lamberth said. “Yes, potholes need to be fixed, and the legislature is already allocating funds for road repairs. As for cannabis, I’m working on legislation to further regulate THC products in our state. We already have enough drug problems as it is.”

What’s next: The bill will have a hearing in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday. It might be an uphill battle to get legalization passed in Tennessee, but stranger things have happened. 

We’ll keep you in the loop. 

-JB

Shadow President Elon Musk and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joked about smoking pot together on Cruz’ The Verdict podcast last week. “Should I show up and pull out a joint,” Cruz said he asked his producers before the show with Musk. 

“But I was pretty sure it might cause a scandal if we smoked pot,” he said. Cruz remains an adamant opponent of legalization. 

See for yourself:

No cannabis lounges in NY — yet 🗽

New York cannabis retailers are upset that they’re not able to open consumption lounges, where patrons can consume cannabis on-site, despite the fact that the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act was passed nearly four years ago, The New York Post reports. 

Cannabis pop-ups in NY 🌿

 New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a pair of bills into law that would allow for “pop-up” events where cannabis can be sold. Read more.

Canadian cannabis sales dipped in January, down 14.9% to $418.3 million CAD, per data from Statistics Canada, a federal agency.

Here’s a chart from New Cannabis Ventures showing the month-over-month changes. 

Ex-Stanford scientist designed a pot pill to replace painkillers. Now he sells 15 million a year.| SF Gate

Cannabis caught in interprovincial barriers | StratCann