Georgia wants to start its medical marijuana program with 300% more cannabis licenses

A newly introduced law could triple the number of medicinal cannabis retail outlets and legalize the use of cannabis oil for patients in Georgia. The Legislative Chamber of Georgia is looking for effective ways to increase productivity in the legal medical cannabis sector. A bill already passed by the state House of Representatives could be the state’s best option to triple the state’s current number of medicinal cannabis approvals to three. If this law is signed, medical cannabis patients will also have the choice to opt for cannabis oil.

Improving the medical cannabis program in Georgia

The state’s medicinal cannabis program has been on hold for several years. The proposed bill would be an attempt to stimulate more activity within the program. The Atlanta Journal Constitution explained that this inaction could be due to the endless disputes between competing companies in the industry. Most of these disagreements stem from a lack of licenses to manufacture and distribute cannabis-derived medicines to registered patients.

Passing this bill in the House and Senate would mean the state medical program would issue up to 22 licenses to medical cannabis companies. The number of permits available today is 6. The newly issued licenses will be issued to six approved companies months ago. Under the proposed measure, all licenses would be issued before or on June 30th. Then companies are granted a hearing to make preparations before opening their doors to customers.

If this law is passed, Georgia will have 22 companies producing, extracting, processing and selling cannabis and cannabis oil. It is important to note that all cannabis flower and derived products must contain no more than 5% THC. THC is the psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis plants.

The main goal of medicinal cannabis is to improve the quality of life of various patients. With cannabis medicines and oil, patients with cancer, chronic pain and depression can have a chance to find relief. Various studies have shown that cannabis oil can be used to treat conditions such as terminal cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

The new bill would expand the program to attract more residents. To date, Georgia has only over 25,000 registered patients in its medicinal cannabis program. Many of these existing patients have complained over the past few months that they prefer to use cannabis oil. However, the state has not allowed registered patients to use it. A significant number of cannabis migrants who purchase their products outside of Georgia do so because they do not have a legal opportunity to purchase their oils here.

The growth of the medicinal cannabis industry

Medical cannabis was officially legalized in 2015. Known as the Haleigh’s Hope Act, the measure decriminalized medicinal cannabis and made possession of products containing up to 5% THC legal. The program’s regulators have made very few changes to the program since its inception seven years ago.

The Journal-Constitution explained that the industry’s slow adoption has crowded out potential medical cannabis candidates while forcing some new and interesting customers to buy products like cannabis oil on the black market. Viewed from another angle, this could not have been avoided as not all residents can afford to cross borders in search of medicinal cannabis.

Just months before the pandemic began, exactly in 2019, the state had yet to nominate a credible candidate for the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. This group is a board of seven that makes all decisions about the medical program. They are tasked with overseeing the program and keeping the operators in check. They also select the companies that receive a license to grow and sell medicinal cannabis.

The Commission itself was set up about four years after the start of the programme. It grew out of a bill that Governor Brian Kemp signed into law in 2019. This measure changed the previous bill that banned the production of cannabis oil in the state. Since then, producers licensed by the Commission have extracted and processed cannabis oil for distribution. Most of the oils were shipped to other states because the oil did not legalize cannabis oil for medical patients.

In signing the 2019 measure, the Republican governor sympathized with patients across the state. He explained that he met dozens of children suffering from chronic, life-threatening diseases. “I’ve also met with and heard from the parents of these kids,” Kemp said. He revealed that most of these patients had complained about not having access to the drug and were on the verge of losing hope of relief for their children. The compromise measure of 2019 gave access to medical cannabis oil only to the seriously ill. In particular, children suffering from debilitating illnesses were what critics and advocates said at the time was the best thing to do.

The Georgian Commission for Access to Medical Cannabis officially started accepting applications from cannabis producers in late 2020. It took about six months until these licenses were finally granted in 2021. Of 69 businesses that applied for the permits, the board of commissions unanimously decided to select only 6 The Atlanta Journal Constitution announced that each license gave each business the authority to set up five different dispensaries in the state.

The majority of these companies have yet to officially open their stores as the Commission has given them a year to sort their stores and start operations. During this time, the Journal-Constitution reported that losing bidders protested the selection made by the commission. All six companies will begin operations before August to bring much-needed medicines to patients suffering from multiple seizures, cancer and other terminal illnesses.

Conclusion

The new bill would initiate various activities within the medical program. It’s certainly a step or more forward in a medicinal cannabis program that has stalled for years. Whether the Commission would open its closed bidding process to the general public if this bill is approved is still unknown. Now there is hope that frustrating program delays are a thing of the past. But that will only work if the bill is passed unanimously.

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