Criminal Offenses

Plain English Breakdown

The bill has been withdrawn, so the exact penalties may not be implemented as described unless it's reintroduced and passed.

Tennessee Law on Hemp-Derived Cannabinoids

This bill changes penalties for selling or distributing hemp-derived cannabinoid products to people under 21 years old in Tennessee.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the punishment for selling or distributing hemp-derived cannabinoid products to someone under 21 from a Class A misdemeanor to jail time and fines.
• Requires at least 48 hours of jail time for those who break this law.
• Sets a minimum fine of $500 and a maximum fine of $1,500 for breaking the law.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who sell or give hemp-derived cannabinoid products to someone under 21 years old.
• Anyone who helps someone under 21 buy these products.

Terms To Know

hemp-derived cannabinoids

Chemicals found in the cannabis plant that are used legally for medical or wellness purposes, but not for getting high.

Class A misdemeanor

A type of crime that is less serious than a felony but more serious than other types of misdemeanors.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill was withdrawn and its current status is unknown.
• It does not specify what happens if someone under 21 buys these products themselves without help from an adult.

Official Summary Text

Under present law, it is an offense for a person to knowingly sell or distribute a product containing
hemp-derived cannabinoid to a person who is under 21 or to purchase a product containing a hemp-derived cannabinoid on behalf of a per
son who is under 21.

It is
also
an offense for a person to knowingly assist a person who is under 21 to purchase, acquire, receive, or attempt to purchase a product containing a hemp-derived cannabinoid.
Under present law, a violation of either of these
provisions is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment not greater than 11 months and 29 days or a fine not to exceed $2,500, or both.

This bill alters the penalty for such violations to, instead, be a sentence to serve in the county jail or wo
rkhouse not less than 48 consecutive hours nor more than 11 months and 29 days and to pay a fine not less than $500 no more than $1,500.

Current Bill Text

<BillNo> <Sponsor>

HOUSE BILL 74
By Howell

HB0074
000451
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39,
Chapter 17; Title 43, Chapter 27 and Title 49,
Chapter 6, relative to hemp-derived cannabinoids.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 43-27-203(d), is amended by adding
the following language at the end of the subsection:
A person violating subdivision (b)(2) or (b)(3) shall be sentenced to serve in the county
jail or workhouse not less than forty-eight (48) consecutive hours nor more than eleven
(11) months and twenty-nine (29) days and be fined not less than five hundred dollars
($500) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500).
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.