In the 11 years since Georgia’s medical marijuana program started, it has slowly stumbled forward, with patients restricted to low-potency oils.
The Georgia General Assembly is on the verge of changing that.
Georgia’s limit on THC content in medical marijuana would be removed, and registered patients would be allowed to vape the drug to receive faster relief, according to Senate Bill 220, which is awaiting a final vote in the state House.
“These are badly needed improvements,” said Shannon Cloud, whose 20-year-old daughter suffers from seizures and is a registered Georgia medical marijuana patient. “It allows more flexibility for patients and doctors to access what’s really going to work for them, taking away the really tight restrictions.”
Of the 42 states with medical marijuana programs, Georgia’s has the lowest adoption rates, said Gary Long, CEO of Botanical Sciences, which owns five dispensaries across the state.
There are about 34,500 registered patients and 2,200 registered caregivers in Georgia, according to the state Department of Health.
Patients will get quicker relief from vaping rather than ingesting oil tinctures, Long said.
“If you’re a patient who has chronic, intractable pain, you don’t want to wait 45 minutes for those other forms to take effect,” Long said. “This is a medicinal product. This is not a recreational product. This gives the majority of patients a form of the product that provides the quickest relief possible.”
Currently, Georgia’s medical marijuana law allows patients to buy and consume products with up to 5% THC, the compound that gives marijuana users a high. Recreational marijuana, which is illegal in Georgia, can have THC content of 20% or more.
Under SB 220, there would be no THC percentage cap. The name of Georgia’s medical product would be changed from “Low THC Oil” to “medical cannabis.”
Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, said he has “grave concerns” about raising the THC limit and allowing people to get high.
“This is not Low THC Oil to solve the problems of little girls that have serious medical conditions that modern medical science cannot otherwise solve. This is something different,” Setzler said before the Senate vote. “It’s about getting people high on THC with concentrated THC into their lungs. That’s a very different proposition.
Sen. Matt Brass, R-Newnan, said the bill will support legitimate patients and prevent a slide toward recreational marijuana legalization that occurred in other states.
“This state does it different. We have put it in medical hands,” Brass said. “We have a tight lock around those qualifying conditions, and we are taking advice from medical experts.”
To qualify for medical cannabis, Georgia patients need approval from a physician to treat conditions including seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, and intractable pain. SB 220 would add lupus to the list and limit treating physicians to those whose principal practice of medicine is located in Georgia.
Georgians for Responsible Marijuana Policy, a group that advocates against marijuana expansion, said increased availability and potency of THC can lead to addiction, impair youth brain development and driving skills, and undermine worker productivity.
“When cannabis use disorder takes root, it does not create freedom — it takes away the ability to choose,” wrote the group’s executive director, Michael Mumper, in a statement at the beginning of this year’s legislative session. “We trust Georgia citizens — when given clear, evidence-based information — to form their own judgments about the public-health and safety considerations surrounding marijuana policy.”
The Senate passed the bill 38-14 on Wednesday after amending it, and it’s awaiting a final vote in the House, which previously passed an earlier version 138-21. If approved, the bill would head to Gov. Brian Kemp.
This article is available through a partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Association’s nonprofit, tax-exempt Educational Foundation.
