‘No Place in Tennessee’ – Where Each Gubernatorial Candidate Stands on Marijuana
Oct 22, 2026 by FACT
Tennessee is one of only ten states that have not legalized medical or recreational marijuana. Our next governor could change that.
The Tennessean recently asked all four gubernatorial candidates polling above 1% where they stand on medical and recreational cannabis. We hope their answers will help you cast an informed vote.
Marsha Blackburn (R)
The Evidence
There’s an important distinction to be made between the marijuana that exists on the street today versus what was available a generation ago. Before the 1990s, “weed” averaged less than 2% THC. By the mid-1990s, it reached 4%. Between 1995 and 2015, THC content in marijuana rose 212%, and the most popular strains in Colorado dispensaries now test between 17 and 28%. Concentrates reach 95%.
“There is absolutely no research that indicates this level of THC is beneficial for any medical condition,” Dr. Libby Stuyt, an addiction psychiatrist, wrote in a research paper. “The purpose of these products is to produce a high, and the increased potency makes them potentially more dangerous and more likely to result in addiction.”
Opposition to legalization is not a purely conservative stance; even traditionally “liberal” medical institutions have maintained longstanding opposition. For instance, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) official policy states that “cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a serious public health concern,” and holds that cannabis sales for adult use “should not be legalized.”
Columbia University researchers followed more than 34,000 American adults for three years and found that marijuana users were more than twice as likely to begin using prescription opioids nonmedically. “Cannabis use appears to increase rather than decrease the risk of developing nonmedical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder,” the authors concluded.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examined a decade of fatal crashes in Washington state and found that the share of drivers testing positive for THC roughly doubled after legalization, from an average of 8.8% before the law took effect to 18% after. By 2017, an estimated 21% of drivers in fatal crashes were THC-positive, the highest share in the 10 years studied.
Following legalization, Michigan’s poison control center logged 387 reports of children under age 6 ingesting or being exposed to cannabis in 2024 – a state record. Of those, 105 were hospitalized, and 23 required critical care. The rate of reported pediatric exposures doubled in the five years after Michigan’s legal recreational sales began.
Legalizing marijuana, medically or recreationally, does not mitigate its social harms – it exacerbates them. We need a governor who will stand firm against mounting pressure and say no to the marijuana lobby. Cast your vote wisely!
Early voting in Tennessee runs through Thursday, October 29, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. FACT is proud to partner with iVoterGuide to provide a reliable resource for voters of faith. Please review the guide before you cast your ballot!
The Tennessean recently asked all four gubernatorial candidates polling above 1% where they stand on medical and recreational cannabis. We hope their answers will help you cast an informed vote.
Marsha Blackburn (R)
- Supports Medical Marijuana? Leans toward no.
- “As governor, I will review medical and clinical research on medical marijuana as it comes out, but I remain concerned about the potential for misuse of this substance.”
- Supports Recreational Marijuana? No.
- “Recreational marijuana has no place in Tennessee. Due to its addictive nature and other troubling effects, it would be completely irresponsible to legalize it.”
- Supports Medical Marijuana? Yes.
- “While neighboring states progress, Tennessee is moving backward by maintaining a cannabis ban that fuels mass incarceration and disproportionately criminalizes Black and brown people for nonviolent offenses.”
- Supports Recreational Marijuana? Yes. Would tax sales to fund the state’s infrastructure backlog.
- Supports Medical Marijuana? Yes.
- “It will be a priority. Forty-one states allow medical cannabis. Tennessee is not one of them.”
- Supports Recreational Marijuana? Defers to voters.
- “I don’t believe that should be the decision of the governor. I would however be in favor of putting this on the ballot for Tennesseans to vote yes or no.”
- Supports Medical Marijuana? Yes.
- “I support legalizing medical cannabis, and it would be a priority in my first legislative session.”
- Supports Recreational Marijuana? Not yet.
- “I am more interested in decriminalizing than legalizing at this moment, and here’s why: Recreational marijuana is much safer than other drugs sold on Tennessee streets. If we take away the income from sellers and put all forms of cannabis in stores, we open up a vacuum for more dangerous drugs to fill that gap. I know a majority of Tennesseans support recreational legalization, and I take that seriously.”
The Evidence
There’s an important distinction to be made between the marijuana that exists on the street today versus what was available a generation ago. Before the 1990s, “weed” averaged less than 2% THC. By the mid-1990s, it reached 4%. Between 1995 and 2015, THC content in marijuana rose 212%, and the most popular strains in Colorado dispensaries now test between 17 and 28%. Concentrates reach 95%.
“There is absolutely no research that indicates this level of THC is beneficial for any medical condition,” Dr. Libby Stuyt, an addiction psychiatrist, wrote in a research paper. “The purpose of these products is to produce a high, and the increased potency makes them potentially more dangerous and more likely to result in addiction.”
Opposition to legalization is not a purely conservative stance; even traditionally “liberal” medical institutions have maintained longstanding opposition. For instance, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) official policy states that “cannabis is a dangerous drug and as such is a serious public health concern,” and holds that cannabis sales for adult use “should not be legalized.”
Columbia University researchers followed more than 34,000 American adults for three years and found that marijuana users were more than twice as likely to begin using prescription opioids nonmedically. “Cannabis use appears to increase rather than decrease the risk of developing nonmedical prescription opioid use and opioid use disorder,” the authors concluded.
The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety examined a decade of fatal crashes in Washington state and found that the share of drivers testing positive for THC roughly doubled after legalization, from an average of 8.8% before the law took effect to 18% after. By 2017, an estimated 21% of drivers in fatal crashes were THC-positive, the highest share in the 10 years studied.
Following legalization, Michigan’s poison control center logged 387 reports of children under age 6 ingesting or being exposed to cannabis in 2024 – a state record. Of those, 105 were hospitalized, and 23 required critical care. The rate of reported pediatric exposures doubled in the five years after Michigan’s legal recreational sales began.
Legalizing marijuana, medically or recreationally, does not mitigate its social harms – it exacerbates them. We need a governor who will stand firm against mounting pressure and say no to the marijuana lobby. Cast your vote wisely!
Early voting in Tennessee runs through Thursday, October 29, and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. FACT is proud to partner with iVoterGuide to provide a reliable resource for voters of faith. Please review the guide before you cast your ballot!
