NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – As states and cities around the nation look to ease criminal punishment for marijuana possession, Tennessee’s conservative Republican legislature is blocking that trend in Nashville and Memphis.
As a result, police in those cities could soon lose their option of giving minor citations for carrying small amounts of marijuana.
Tennessee lawmakers have agreed to bar cities from issuing civil citations for marijuana possession, and GOP Gov. Bill Haslam is deferring to the legislature, said spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals.
The ban would fall in line with proposals by the Trump administration to step up enforcement of federal law against recreational marijuana. President Donald Trump won Tennessee soundly.
More than two dozen U.S. cities have passed ordinances easing penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.