AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 4; Title 40 and Title 43, relative to the "Freedom to Farm Act."
SB2486, the “Freedom to Farm Act,” would create a new chapter in Tennessee law allowing certain adults to register with the Department of Agriculture to cultivate, possess, and use marijuana for personal use at their private residence. A registered adult could grow up to 15 marijuana plants total, with no more than 5 mature plants, in a locked, non-public area; store the marijuana produced from those plants; possess up to 16 ounces of dried marijuana trim; use marijuana trim; possess marijuana-related paraphernalia; exchange marijuana trim without payment with another adult on private property; and purchase and possess marijuana seeds. The bill defines key terms such as adult, minor, marijuana, mature plant, seedling, and trim, and it expressly excludes hemp and certain marijuana concentrates and extracts from the authorization.
The bill would also establish a registration system administered by the Department of Agriculture. Eligible adults must own their residence or have written permission from the property owner if leasing, and registration would be valid for three years at a cost of $100. The department would be required to create both online and in-person registration options and a law-enforcement verification process. Violations could lead to permanent revocation of registration and criminal penalties under existing controlled-substances law.
In addition to the personal-cultivation framework, the bill creates a funding mechanism tied to registration fees. After administrative costs are covered, surplus fee revenue would be directed primarily to a new farmers’ market support program beginning in 2027, with grants distributed across Tennessee’s three grand divisions. The Department of Agriculture would also be authorized to adopt rules to implement the act, and the bill would take effect immediately for rulemaking purposes, with the rest taking effect January 1, 2027.
The bill’s impact on state law would be significant because it carves out a new exception to Tennessee’s existing marijuana prohibitions in Title 39 and creates a new regulatory role for the Department of Agriculture in Title 43. It would not legalize commercial marijuana production or concentrates/oils, but it would permit limited home cultivation and possession by registered adults, while maintaining criminal penalties for conduct outside the bill’s narrow authorization.
The available voting history suggests the bill faced opposition in committee and did not advance, failing 3-4 in the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. With no committee transcript provided, the general sentiment can only be inferred from the vote and the bill’s subject matter: the proposal appears to have had some support as a limited personal-use and agriculture-related measure, but enough concern remained to block it from moving forward.
SB2486 would amend Tennessee’s controlled-substances framework by creating a new statutory chapter that exempts registered adults from certain marijuana prohibitions for limited home cultivation, possession, and use. It would also assign the Department of Agriculture new administrative duties, including registration, verification, rulemaking, and fee management, and would create a dedicated farmers’ market grant program funded by surplus registration revenue. The bill would not change the legality of marijuana concentrates, oils, or resin, which would remain subject to existing criminal law.
The bill appears to have generated mixed to negative sentiment in committee, as reflected by its 3-4 failure in the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. The subject matter suggests some interest in personal cultivation rights and agricultural funding, but the committee result indicates that a majority of members were not persuaded to support the measure. No transcript is available to show detailed debate, so the strongest evidence of sentiment is the failed vote itself.
The main points of contention likely centered on marijuana policy, including whether Tennessee should permit any home cultivation and possession of marijuana by adults, how to enforce registration and age restrictions, and whether the Department of Agriculture should administer a program involving marijuana. Another likely issue was the bill’s narrow scope: it allowed only limited plant counts and excluded concentrates and oils, which may have been viewed either as too restrictive by supporters or still too permissive by opponents. The use of registration fees to fund farmers’ market grants may also have drawn scrutiny over whether marijuana-related fees should support agricultural programs.