Georgia Lawmakers Collaborate for State’s Medical Marijuana Program

Compromises are better than being shut down when it comes to medical marijuana in Georgia. The House and Senate are compromising with advocates, and leaving the General Assembly with a difficult task ahead. Families need to have a way to get the proper treatment for themselves and their children.

House Bill 65 has many good points, but a meeting will be held this week to make a few tweaks, according to WRBL News.  Autism, chronic pain, AIDS/HIV and PTSD would all be added if the Georgia House accepts them. State Senator Greg Kirk is working on similar legislation in the state’s senate.

The senate is taking a very conservative approach to medical marijuana, regardless of what form it’s in. Kirk’s bill would only allow autism to be added to the list of qualifying conditions and the limit on THC content would be reduced from 5-percent to 3-percent. Many are in disagreement with this legislation.

Senator Kirk said, “There’s not a whole lot of scientific evidence behind this. So we’ve reached out and gotten ahead of the FDA and others. And we don’t’ have a lot of scientific data to back up what we’re doing. That’s what makes this bill so difficult and that’s why we’re taking such a cautious approach.”

Kirk expects his bill to pass the floor sometime this week. The House would then review the bill. Kirk wasn’t prepared to discuss the many demands for in-state cultivation and production of marijuana oil.

Medical marijuana advocate, Dale Jackson said, “While the families at the capitol are willing to work with the Senate in relation to SB16, the THC limit must be returned to 5% before it is something we can support. We are confident that when it is all said and done, this will be the case. We will continue to put our full support behind Allen Peake and HB65 as it goes before the full committee this week and hopefully to the house for a vote next week.”