Georgia Governor Signs Limited Medical Marijuana Bill

[caption id="attachment_8688" align="alignright" width="300"] Gov. Deal (Photo: David Goldman/AP)[/caption]

On Thursday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law HB 1, the Haleigh’s Hope Act. This new law, which was sponsored by Rep. Allen Peake, will allow qualified patients to legally possess up to 20 fluid ounces of low-THC cannabis oils with their doctors’ recommendations. While this is an improvement to current law, it leaves the vast majority of medical marijuana patients without legal protections for using and possessing the medicine their doctors think is best for them. It also forces patients to smuggle the oil back from other states in which medical marijuana products can be legally produced.

If you are a Georgia resident, please email your lawmakers today. Thank them for taking this modest first step, and encourage them to support a more comprehensive medical marijuana program.

Georgia took a step forward this year, but the law is so incomplete that MPP will not be counting it as a “medical marijuana state.” Nonetheless, in some ways HB 1 is better than the 12 other CBD-focused laws: It includes eight medical conditions, while most of the other CBD laws only protect patients with intractable epilepsy, and it allows up to 5% THC, which is more than most of the other states with CBD-focused laws.

For more information, please see our summary of the law.