Medical Cannabis
Federal scheduling, DEA and FDA layers, and readiness planning for Tennessee pharmacies, physicians, and healthcare operators, from a former state regulator who handles scheduled substances every day.
Eleven years inside Tennessee healthcare regulation, including as deputy general counsel at the Department of Health.
Licensed in Tennessee, with federal practice before the DEA, FDA, and HHS nationwide.
The healthcare division of Litson PLLC, ready if a matter reaches court.
How we approach it
Medical cannabis in Tennessee is easier to understand when it is placed where it belongs, alongside every other scheduled substance a pharmacy or clinic already handles. Federal law now treats marijuana dispensed under a state medical program as a Schedule III substance, a change that took effect on April 28, 2026, while marijuana outside those programs remains in Schedule I with further federal rulemaking still pending. That shift moved the conversation onto ground that pharmacists and physicians know well: DEA registration, FDA oversight, state licensing, and the recordkeeping that ties them together. Matt Gibbs spent more than eleven years inside Tennessee’s healthcare regulatory system, including as deputy general counsel at the Department of Health, where medical cannabis was among the issues his team advised on, and he brings that same framework to the questions operators are asking now.
Tennessee does not have a medical cannabis program today. The bill that would create one, House Bill 390 and Senate Bill 459, sits in interim study, with legislative hearings scheduled for September 30 and October 1, 2026, which makes a Tennessee program a question for the 2027 session at the earliest and no certainty even then. Laws change, and the operators who fare best when they do are the ones who have already thought through what participation would require of them: which licenses they would hold, how their corporate structure would need to look, how a scheduled product would be received, stored, and dispensed, and how their existing DEA and Board obligations would interact with a new state framework. That planning is unglamorous, and it is exactly what a former regulator is good at.
For operators and providers in states that already have programs, the questions tend to be federal. What Schedule III does and does not change for research, tax treatment, and day-to-day compliance, how the DEA views registrants who also touch state cannabis programs, where the FDA’s authority begins, and how a physician certifies patients without putting a medical license at risk are all questions RxLaw Group advises on with a Tennessee license and a federal practice before the DEA, FDA, and HHS. Hemp and hemp-derived products are a separate market with separate rules, handled by a separate Litson PLLC division, so the medical cannabis work here stays focused on the scheduled substance and the regulated professionals who will eventually handle it.
What we handle
Federal scheduling, agency layers, and the preparation that pays off if Tennessee moves.
A clear-eyed look at what participating in a Tennessee program would require of your pharmacy, clinic, or company.
What the April 2026 move to Schedule III changed for medical programs, and what still sits in Schedule I.
Registration, recordkeeping, and security under the DEA, and where the FDA’s authority reaches.
General guidance on patient certification and the license considerations for physicians who take part.
Corporate structure, ownership, and the licensing files that state programs typically require.
Tracking the interim study, the hearings, and the 2027 session, with updates as the process moves.
Readiness planning, scheduling questions, entity review, and legislative updates fit inside the flat monthly membership, with unlimited access to your attorney as the law develops. Any investigation, inspection response, or enforcement action is a separate engagement, scoped and estimated before work begins.
Common questions
Not today. Tennessee has no medical cannabis program, and the legislation that would create one, House Bill 390 and Senate Bill 459, is in interim study with hearings scheduled for September 30 and October 1, 2026. That timing makes a program a question for the 2027 legislative session at the earliest, and nothing about the outcome is settled. Laws change, and the value of planning now is being ready if they do.
Effective April 28, 2026, marijuana dispensed under a state medical program, along with marijuana in FDA-approved drug products, moved from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana outside those programs remains in Schedule I while further rulemaking is pending. Schedule III places medical cannabis in the same category as a number of prescription medications pharmacies already handle, with DEA registration, recordkeeping, and security requirements that will be familiar to any operator who dispenses controlled substances.
Yes. Readiness planning, federal scheduling questions, entity and licensing review, and updates as the Tennessee process moves are all within the scope of membership, with unlimited access to your attorney. An investigation, inspection response, or enforcement action involving cannabis or any other scheduled substance is a separate engagement, scoped and estimated up front on an hourly or retainer basis.
Hemp is a separate market with its own state and federal rules, and Litson PLLC handles it through a separate division so that each practice stays focused. RxLaw Group’s medical cannabis work is limited to the scheduled substance itself, the federal layers around it, and the pharmacies, physicians, and operators who would handle it under a state program.
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