Georgia House committee passes medical marijuana bill

Several years ago Georgia legislators passed a bill that legalized one of the most restrictive medical marijuana programs in the United States. The bill allowed registered patients with any of the 16 qualifying conditions to possess and use low-potency medical marijuana oil, however the major flaw with this bill is that it did not legalize or regulate any means for patients to purchase the medication. Not only are there no stores carrying it but there are no companies hired to grow and process cannabis into the medication in the first place, meaning the only way to access this medication is to purchase it out of state and illegally transport it back into Georgia. Last week a bill was passed in the House Regulated Industries Committee that would solve this problem. The bill would license and regulate 10 growers and up to 50 medical marijuana dispensaries. While the bill has the support of many it only has until this week to pass through the full House or it will be terminated and Georgia patients will once again be let down by their lawmakers.

"It simply provides an opportunity for the patients to access safe oil without breaking federal law, incurring the extremely high cost of traveling to another state and getting a product they are not 100 percent confident in how it was made and where it was made," Gravley said.