As for the legislation & administration of the program, I don't know.
As for the efficacy of medicinal usage, YES, it does work. Don't believe it? Spend a little time talking to someone who knows firsthand. Crohn's disease has been my companion for 35 years.

Cheech: "Slow doooown. Slow doooown, man."

Chong: "Sh*t, man, I'm only doin' 7."

This is a big deal that has gotten very little attention. I may not be here to see it but someday my grandson will say "I wish Mimi were here to see this". Efficacy? Proven! And not just for the aforementioned maladies.

I've been getting emails from norml.org for a few years. Its fascinating what's going on.
There's around 13 states where its legal for medical, Mass. and a few others recently made it legal for adults to have a certain amount for personal use.
Medical marijuana got more votes than Obama in Mich. Oakland Calif and Michigan have a school where you can train to run a dispensary. LA has more dispensaries than Starbucks and schools and in Colorado where it just passed there are more requests for dispensary licenses than there are Starbucks in the whole state.
I think there may be a referendum to legalize it completely in Calif in Nov. The mainstream media has picked up on this some but norml has much more info. This is not wacky hippie stuff, it really has picked up in the mainstream.

Decriminalized or even legalized marijuana is more likely than single-payer healthcare in the near future.

Why?

Because the tobacco companies or other companies who would produce a legal joint would make bundles of money, the crime rate would go down, tax revenues would skyrocket, and, best of all, people would just sit around and do nothing, which would be the best possible outcome for the powers that be. People might be dying of cancer with no health insurance, but at least they could expire with a smile on their face.

I have learned from many friends that live in states where they have medical marijuan. I suffer from migraines that will make you sleep on icepacks to basicly numb your head to make it stop. Myself having a low tolerance level can take a couple of hits off my pipe, or bong and it is gone. I am able to live a some what normal life considering I am legally blind from a stroke, but compared to the meds I was taken, I choose it. One of the meds I took for 5 years attacks my kidneys, the other my liver. I was giving another a month ago that they claim is supposed to help with them it does nothing but make you sleep. What kind of life is that for anyone? I choose my green any day of the week over the prescriptions I keep being given.

When the state legislature can't decide if grown adults can be trusted to buy legal alcohol in grocery stores, I seriously doubt the legalization of medical marijuana is going to see the light of day beyond some snickering in a sub-sub-sub-committee meeting.

That's about a powerful lobby acting effectively in what it perceives to be its own self-interest. The same kind of thing will happen when (not if) weed gets greenlighted.

I don't share your pessimism about this. Legalizing marijuana is such a no-brainer that it must happen even in TN. Surely. Right?

I pray that they will pass this bill in Tn. I suffer from anxiety issues and bipolar depression, and all the pills they tried either didn't help or the side effects were too extreme to continue use. My husband turned me back to the green from my youth, and surprise, surprise, it helped! I can go about my day feeling normal. There are times when I smoke more than others, but it has had nothing but a positive impact on my life. I no longer have the mood swings that would confuse my kids. I no longer have days where my anxiety keeps me in the house like a prisoner. When I feel a panic attack start to come on, I don't have to grab a damn pill bottle. Alcohol is WAY more dangerous to society than marijuana. I don't know why there is such a stigma. In the day and age of budget issues, over crowding prison systems, etc., it is a solution that will have far-reaching POSITIVE effects. Get with it!!!

I think it should be passed. You don't see many pot smokers beating their wives or children, or killing soneone in and car accident. Heckmost pot smokers drive under the speed limit not over.

Turns out that when the GOP asked what people wanted them to do, via their snappy new website, people asked them to legalize pot!
true story
(link...)

@ marytheprez

"And even though this drug would help thousands"

You cannot plant a seed in the ground and grow a drug. Drugs are man made concoctions.

@ EricLykins

"If it can't be sold as a drug it can't be marketed as a drug, and few people will ever hear about it."

Yep, not too many folk ever heard of this here maryjewana.

Many pharmaceuticals contain water. Via your convoluted way of thinking, water must be a drug.

If you could plant a seed and grow a drug, who would patent it and make money from it?

Monsanto? After they genetically re-engineered it and patented the genes of course. :)

If I had medical marijuana. I could return to work. But mean while im suffering and every one around me has to pitch in and help me out. I suffer from brain injurys and I have tried every medication you can think of and nothing works! Except marijuana which.I tried years back. I have been waiting so long and suffering day in and day out. You can only Imaging how many people cant go to work and hold a steady job in this country. Because they cant get the right medication and it would be less expensive to give them medical marijuana than almost every psychiatric drug on the market. Which our governtment is flushing money down the drain to provide.And from my own experiance made me worse than I was.

Tennessee brought Lottery to its people and Lottery is gambling I've met quite a few preachers in my time that will tell you gambling is a sin .But to deny a natural remedy to people in need ,over man made garbage with a list of side effects and side effects of the unknowing. With a price tag that could be putting them into a decent home and food on their table makes no since.And the lack of knowledge our medical system has is from the cold drug war that we live in .The marijuana Law it self claims lives Good honest hard working lives not the drug !But the Law it puts sick people in jeopardy it ruins families takes from loved ones .And do Consider anyone that upholds that Law a murderer .They have blood on their hands over what a natural plant while Corporations corrupt our governments . with the trillions of dollars they take in and dish out over man made garbage. and it makes you realize maybe that is why every thing we see laying around us is made in China when you taking also Inspiration from the people and the will to work.So all you politicians go drink your red wine ,your beers while the big game is on tvsmoke your 14 dollar cigar and try to forget about all of the murder and chaos that is going on 10 blocks away from your home and swallow your Ambian so you can fall asleep fast and not have to worry about the sick and dying and suffering in this country.

To the doctors:

Who may or may not be, prescribing this medical marijuana.. As some of you doctors may well know, when prescribing this stuff its at best a crap shoot.... I myself have been searching for the "perfect" strain for 16 years, and its been a hit or miss thing every step of the way, It seemed like every time I thought i knew which strains were helping, I'd spend the next month in pain because I bought the wrong kind... So here's what you might try, this is an issue that has hurt me for quite sometime. I've taken allot of criticism over my strain theorys, but see what you think about this solution... And if any of you patients want to chime in and confirm this works, it would be appreciated.... Here's is the thing I've been failing to realize for all them years, in terms of reality nothing in life is perfect, in fact nothing in life is even close to perfect unless you try. So, here's what I've been doing to remedy the situation. Rather than continue wasting more time on this issue, what I've done was combine a few of the strains that help me best in a tincture. I take 3 droppers in the am, and 3 at bed time. And I vaporize something that's beneficial in several areas, like OG kush within the first hour I'm awake. This has been working for me for the last three months, mornings are a little shaky because my THC level drops. But I hope to remedy this with some homemade coco canna caps and maybe remove the tincture from my routine.

Why isn't Tennessee taking full advantage of the situation? Why aren't we legalizing it for industrial use also, I thought Tennessee was suppose to be a Ecofriendly state.. Go green.. Aren't we being kind of hypocritical here? Wouldn't it make more sense to allow every farmer to grow it for fuel, clothes etc... Think of the positive effects it will have on our environment.... The industrial stuff don't even need to be nowhere near pharmaceutical grade.