Medical marijuana is still not legal in Tennessee because the people in the state legislature do not represent the people and there is no mechanism under our 1870 state constitution to circumvent it with a popular referendum.
https://twitter.com/FactTank/status/1384137989354229769
There are definitely cases where popular referenda get out of control and start to make ordinary representative governance impossible. But TN has the opposite problem. Our legislature is broken. It spends its time debating useless garbage and embarrassing the state every session.
The 1870 state constitution gave most power to the legislature as a reaction to Parson Brownlow during Reconstruction. Legislative districts are uncompetitive and gerrymandered. And the few statewide elected officials we have possess little authority.
I'm sure Tennessee is not alone this way. But every year our state legislature just gets worse and worse. And there is no mechanism to bypass it. It's time for somebody to run for office pledging state constitutional reform to modernize the way our government operates.
I love Tennessee - the people, culture, land. I'm proud to call it home. While I recognize my own politics are not those of the majority statewide, I also know that the legislature doesn't accurately represent the will of the majority here either. The result is low voter turnout.
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