Georgia Medical Cannabis Program is finally being revamped and expanded

Georgia’s medical cannabis program is on the verge of a significant expansion after the state regulator selected six companies to sell the drug on Saturday, a decision that will finally give registered patients a legal way to get drugs that were first approved six years ago . “According to the Atlanta Journal constitution.

The decision means that thousands of patients in Peach State can finally get medical marijuana oil that was long unavailable under the state’s medical marijuana law. This will be a significant and positive change for a state that has been left without a real medical program for too long.

The move was approved by the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, which, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “voted unanimously to select the six companies out of 69 companies that applied for licenses.” “State law limits the number of medical marijuana producers to six. Each licensee will be entitled to open five pharmacies, ”the newspaper reported.

These companies are now allowed to sell medical marijuana oil as long as it contains no more than five percent THC.

It has taken a long time for Georgia’s medical cannabis patients who prefer oil consumption. In 2019, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed the Georgia Hope Act, or HB 324, into effect.

Legislation paved the way for “the production, manufacture and distribution of low-THC oil in” [the] State ”and provided for“ an exemption from owning certain amounts of low-THC oil ”.

Georgia’s program is lagging behind

Overall, the implementation of Georgia’s medical marijuana law continues to lag behind. As the Marihuana Policy Project found, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission accepted applications for producers in late 2020, but did not issue the six licenses until Saturday.

The commission selected the six companies in front of a “full room of about 200 people,” according to the Atlanta Journal constitution.

The newspaper said that these six companies “have a year to start operating and care for patients with conditions such as seizures, terminal cancer and Parkinson’s disease after the contracts are signed following possible protests against the loss of bidders.” Two companies “acquired licenses to grow medical marijuana oil on 100,000 square meters of indoor cultivation space”, while the other four “are licensed to operate smaller production facilities with 50,000 square meters of cultivation space”.

Georgia lawmakers first passed a law legalizing medical marijuana in 2015, but it came at an icy pace. As of late 2019, the state still had no members appointed to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that “Patients have previously illegally obtained low-THC oil, either through an informal patient network or by traveling to other states to buy it.”

The law passed six years ago allows “patients to register for possession of up to 20 fluid ounces of medicinal cannabis oil containing up to 5 percent THC,” according to the Marijuana Policy Project. The Marijuana Policy Project has expressed disappointment with the five percent cap, stating that the Georgia statute “does not conform to the MPP definition of effective medical cannabis law.”

Around 15,000 patients have signed up for the medical marijuana program in the state, and after voting this weekend, they’re one step closer to finally getting their hands on the drug. Medical marijuana sales are slated to begin later this year.

Georgian officials continued to expand the program even during the slow implementation phase. In May, Kemp signed a bill allowing up to 30 state-licensed medical cannabis companies to sell high-CBD cannabis.

But the commission’s unanimous vote over the weekend means the state will finally “have a working marijuana program,” as the Atlanta Journal constitution put it.