Franklin, TN Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Tennessee has not enacted a commercial medical marijuana program and has not legalized recreational marijuana. Unlike Kentucky (Office of Medical Cannabis under SB 47 of 2023 and HB 829 of 2024), Mississippi, Virginia, and other neighbors, Tennessee does not license cultivators, processors, dispensaries, or safety compounders for cannabis containing more than 0.9% THC. The narrow carve-out at T.C.A. 39-17-402(16) for low-THC CBD oil does NOT create a dispensary system. As a result, no marijuana dispensary may lawfully operate in Franklin, and the Williamson County and Franklin zoning codes have no dispensary-permitted zone, no buffer-distance ordinances, and no licensing process. Any retail sale of marijuana in Franklin is criminal trafficking under T.C.A. 39-17-417 with felony exposure scaling by quantity (Class E for sales of up to 0.5 oz, Class D for 0.5 oz to 10 lb, escalating up). Hemp-derived cannabinoid (HDC) products — including delta-8, delta-9, low-THC CBD, and (subject to 2024 hemp-killing legislation) restricted THCA products — are a SEPARATE regulatory track regulated by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) effective January 1, 2026 (oversight transferred from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture). Retailers selling HDC products must hold a TABC license; existing TDA licenses issued through December 31, 2025 remain valid until June 30, 2026 during the transition. TABC contact for HDC licensing: (615) 741-1602 or TABC.Info@tn.gov. Franklin's existing zoning code regulates HDC retailers as general retail uses but does not impose a marijuana-dispensary framework because there is no underlying state authority for one. If Tennessee enacts a medical or recreational cannabis program in the future, Franklin and Williamson County would adopt local zoning and licensing rules at that time.