Georgia Makes Progress with Medical Cannabis Expansion
The House of Representatives has recently approved a compromise measure for Georgia that allows those in hospice care and patients diagnosed with autism, Tourette’s syndrome, AIDS and other ailments to use medical cannabis oil as medical treatment. This action to let more patients gain access to medical cannabis is nearing a final vote in the General Assembly. The measure is expected to pass in the Senate at the end of this week, as the legislative session wraps up.
Earlier this month, we reported on Georgia’s expansion goals, and how it only took 10 minutes for the House committee to vote in favor of expanding the qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. Luckily, this positive support for Georgia’s medical cannabis measure seems to be across the board.
The bill also keeps the allowable THC level at five percent after the Senate tried earlier to reduce it. Autoimmune disease, HIV and PTSD were removed from the list of allowable uses during negotiations with senators. According to The Valdosta Daily Times, Representative Allen Peake, R-Macon, said he was also disappointed that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder didn’t make it into the bill.
Peake said he hopes lawmakers will eventually take themselves out of the process of deciding who can use the medicine. “We ought to be letting doctors decide and help make this decision for their patients and not have an arbitrary list of conditions,” he told The Valdosta Daily Times.
Peake also filed a resolution that would put the question of whether or not Georgia should allow medical cannabis to be grown, produced and sold within the state—since it is illegal to carry cannabis products over state line—on the ballot next. It would need a two-thirds majority in both chambers.
Obviously, this is not the end of the battle for medical cannabis in Georgia, but with 1,300 patients registered for medical cannabis and more than 200 hospice agencies just in Atlanta, this compromise measure looks like it will help some Georgians gain access to the natural medical treatments they desire. We will be reporting more on this issue as it develops and finalizes.
