Dozens of people carried signs with the legalization message at last week's rally. (Photo: Jacob Babb)
This is the first in a two-part series about marijuana legalization and its impacts.

On April 20—a day dedicated to smoking weed—about 50 people, including three people who are running for seats in the Tennessee General Assembly, gathered in Chattanooga's Renaissance Park in support of marijuana legalization.

Other participants ranged from high school students to a military veteran, and their efforts are part of a bigger, national movement to legalize the drug, and use it to boost the economy and benefit people who have problems that range from post-traumatic stress disorder to cancer to epilepsy.
 

Although bills about marijuana come up each year in the General Assembly, current elected legislators aren't convinced on the issue of legalization, which has several components.

Dozens of people gathered last week at a rally to support the legalization of marijuana. (Photo: Jacob Babb)
 
Some advocates argue that there are fiscal benefits for states that legalize marijuana and then tax it; some say that it has powerful medicinal potential. Proponents also argue that legalization could lessen the burden on the criminal justice system.

But opponents worry about the potential for it to be a "gateway drug" and about the health risks associated with it. They also question whether legalizing and taxing it will create other problems.

Chattanooga rally Democratic candidate for state Senate in Tennessee's 10th District Khristy Wilkinson, who would face Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire in the general election if she wins the nomination in the primary this summer, attended and spoke at the rally, which Democrats for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders hosted.

Other candidates in attendance included Democrats Alice Demetreon, who is running for state Senate in Tennessee's 16th District; Katie Cowley, who is running for the state's House of Representatives in District 30; and Anna Miller Grabowski, who is running for House District 22.

Demetreon said she spent 20 years in law enforcement, half of that time working in dispatch and the other half with arrestees. And during that time, she realized that the system isn't helping marijuana or drug offenders.

Some locals cite medical reasons as a need for legalization. (Photo: Jacob Babb) 
 
Arresting them didn't help, she said. She said the government should be spending money on education and providing tools to help them overcome addictions instead of incarceration.

"It being illegal didn't stop your family member from finding it, and once they were arrested, being arrested didn't help them choose another path," she said.

Grabowski said she wants drug laws changed to a "commonsense and humane" approach. She called for legalization of marijuana in Tennessee and across the country.

"Personally, I do not like marijuana," she said. "I tried it ... years ago and I did not like it. But I also do not like tobacco or eating meat. We can't make things illegal just because we don't like them."

Wilkinson encouraged the crowd to vote on issues that affect them. She bills herself as "passionate about education, equality and civic engagement," and told the crowd that their vote matters.

Sen. Bo Watson, who has been in the Tennessee Legislature for about 12 years and serves District 11, said that bills related to marijuana come up just about every year. But this year, all legislation on that topic is done for now, he said.

Sen. Steven Dickerson put forth a bill related to medicinal marijuana this year.
"We considered it, had a summer study, but it didn't come out of committee," Watson said of Dickerson's bill.

Overall, Watson, who is also a physical therapist, said that the sentiment from Tennessee constituents is that the state just isn't ready for legalization.

Local veteran opinion Chattanooga resident and veteran Joseph Tucker was one of dozens of locals who support legalization.

He spoke at the rally and said that for a long time he had only tried the drug once. He was the law-abiding type. He believed in the government. And after 9/11, he joined the military. He went to Iraq and came home with pain. Doctors prescribed him oxycotton, he said.

"Here I am, just eating these pills for injuries I sustained in the desert," he said.

The pills made him aggressive. It contributed to a divorce, he said. The pills made him feel like he was going crazy, he said.

"Come to find out it was the oxycotton, which has led a lot of kids to addictions such as heroin," he said.

Eventually, Tucker went to California, where he got approval from a doctor to use medicinal marijuana. It was legal there, and the dispensaries were something he could have never imagined, he said. The products come in the form of brownies or soda pop, he said.

"So my point is this," he said. "Find the truth. Do your research."

He also said he had a conversation with his mother about his 5-year-old son. His mother asked him, "If you think marijuana is so safe, would you give it to your son?"

And he pointed to the case of a child named Charlotte, who has gotten national attention after marijuana helped ease her seizures from epilepsy.

"I said, 'If my son had epilepsy and [marijuana] would help him the way it helped that little girl, not only would I give it to him, I'd fight to grow it,'" Tucker said.