You cannot get medical marijuana in Tennessee in the way that phrase is normally understood. The state has no medical cannabis program, no dispensaries, and no patient registry. It permits one narrow exception: patients with certain diagnoses may legally possess cannabis oil containing less than 0.9% THC, but the oil has to be bought out of state and carried with specific paperwork. Everything else is a criminal offense.
What Tennessee Actually Allows
The state’s cannabis oil law is an affirmative defense against prosecution, not an authorization to use marijuana. It applies to a single product: cannabis oil rich in cannabidiol (CBD) with less than 0.9% THC by weight, labeled that way by the manufacturer.1Justia Law. Tennessee Code 39-17-402 – Definitions for This Part and Title 53 Smoking cannabis, edibles, and any product above that THC threshold remain illegal. No one grows, produces, or sells this oil legally inside Tennessee.
Who Qualifies
To rely on the exception, you or an immediate family member must have been diagnosed by a Tennessee-licensed medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine with one of these conditions:
- Intractable seizures or epilepsy
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer, when end-stage or when treatment causes wasting, nausea, vomiting, or pain
- HIV/AIDS
- Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Sickle cell disease
Possessing the oil without meeting these requirements is a Class C misdemeanor.1Justia Law. Tennessee Code 39-17-402 – Definitions for This Part and Title 53
How to Get the Oil and What to Carry
Because Tennessee has no legal in-state source, you have to buy the oil from a state where it is legally produced and sold.2Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids The manufacturer’s label must reflect the under-0.9% THC content.
When you have the oil in Tennessee, keep two documents on you:
- Proof of diagnosis from your Tennessee-licensed physician showing you or an immediate family member has a qualifying condition.
- Proof of legal purchase from the state where you bought the oil — a receipt, order confirmation, or recommendation.
Without both, the legal protection disappears.
The Federal Transport Problem
Tennessee’s statute requires you to buy the oil out of state, but carrying it across state lines is a federal crime. Marijuana, including cannabis oil that contains any amount of THC, is still a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and federal law does not recognize state medical cannabis exceptions.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 812 – Schedules of Controlled Substances Federal prosecution of an individual patient carrying a small bottle is unlikely in practice, but the exposure is real. Tennessee’s framework depends on you doing something federal law prohibits.
Penalties If You Fall Outside the Exception
Cannabis that doesn’t fit the low-THC oil carve-out is treated as a criminal matter. The penalties escalate with amount and prior record:
- Half ounce or less, first offense: Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail, mandatory $250 fine, and a maximum fine of $2,500.4Justia Law. Tennessee Code 39-17-418 – Simple Possession or Casual Exchange
- Half ounce or less, subsequent offense: still a Class A misdemeanor, but the mandatory minimum fine rises to $500.
- Concentrates under 14.75 grams: Class A misdemeanor on a first offense; a second conviction is a Class E felony carrying one to six years of incarceration.
Driving After Using Low-THC Oil
Tennessee’s DUI statute makes it illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana or any controlled substance that impairs safe operation, and it also makes it illegal to drive with any detectable level of an illicit substance or its metabolites in your system. There is no defense written into the law for patients using low-THC cannabis oil. Because THC metabolites can linger in blood or urine for days or weeks, a fully sober driver can still test positive. Using the oil and driving carries DUI exposure based on that testing alone.
No Employment or Housing Protections
An employer in Tennessee can fire you or refuse to hire you based on a positive drug test even if you possess low-THC cannabis oil legally. Roughly two dozen states with medical programs have enacted workplace protections for off-duty use; Tennessee has not.
Housing is similar. Because marijuana remains federally illegal, the Fair Housing Act’s disability protections do not cover its use. Public housing authorities are required to deny applicants known to use marijuana and must reject related accommodation requests. Private landlords can prohibit cannabis in lease agreements and enforce those terms.
Hemp-Derived CBD Is a Separate Category
Hemp-derived CBD is often confused with the medical cannabis oil exception, and the distinction matters. Under the 2018 federal Farm Bill, hemp and hemp extracts containing less than 0.3% THC are legal nationwide. These products are sold openly in Tennessee retail stores, online, and at specialty shops, without a diagnosis or documentation.
Regulatory oversight of hemp-derived cannabinoid products in Tennessee moved from the Department of Agriculture to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission on January 1, 2026, with existing Department of Agriculture licenses remaining valid through June 30, 2026 during the transition.2Tennessee Department of Agriculture. Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids
The 0.9% THC cannabis oil exception only matters if you need a product that exceeds the 0.3% federal hemp threshold but stays below 0.9%. For many patients, a hemp-derived CBD product bought in Tennessee will do the job and sidesteps the documentation, out-of-state purchase, and interstate transport issues entirely.
Where Legislation Stands
Multiple attempts to build a real medical cannabis program in Tennessee have failed. In the 2025 session, the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Act was introduced as House Bill 872 and Senate Bill 489, which would have created a program administered by a state commission. The Senate version failed in the Judiciary Committee without a second vote, and the House version stalled in a health subcommittee. An earlier Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission studied a broader program and issued recommendations that the legislature has not acted on.5Tennessee General Assembly. Recommendations of the Tennessee Medical Cannabis Commission The low-THC cannabis oil exception is still the only legal pathway.