On April 17, Georgia\u2019s Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill allowing cultivation of cannabis for production and sale of CBD oil in the Peach State. The law is a breakthrough for patients who had previously been \u201callowed\u201d to use cannabis oil, but had no way to buy it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kemp, a generally conservative Republican, said he was swayed after speaking with parents whose children depend on access to the cannabis oil for their health. \u201cAll they simply want is to be able to help their kids get well,\u201d he said upon signing the bill, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re ensuring these families can purchase what works for their loved ones without creating a slippery slope that undermines our values.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0new law<\/a>\u00a0will allow for a limited cannabis industry, with a total of nine acres of indoor cultivation space statewide. Low-THC (and high-CBD) cannabis\u00a0oil will be sold to legally registered users in the system established by\u00a0the 2015 law<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 9,500 so far. Ailments such as PTSD, Parkinson\u2019s disease<\/a> and cancer are approved for the program. Herbaceous cannabis, high-THC products and either smoking or vaping will all remain illegal.<\/p>\n A seven member board, dubbed the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, will be created to oversee the nascent industry, with commissioners to be appointed by Gov. Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and the speaker of the state House of Representatives, David Ralston. Licenses are to be awarded competitively, with only two \u201cClass 1\u201d licenses available to cultivate on an industrial scale out of six total cultivation licenses. Dispensaries are also to be licensed. It is expected to be a year before Georgia-produced cannabis oil actually reaches consumers.<\/p>\n But the program is expected to grow, with the new Commission empowered to make recommendations to the legislature for additional medical conditions that can be treated with cannabis oil.<\/p>\n Kemp signed the bill into law after it passed the state Senate 34-to-20, with bipartisan support. Some conservatives raised fears of a slippery slope to general legalization, per Atlanta\u2019s Saporta Report<\/a>. But Kemp and supportive lawmakers stressed the unfairness of the 2015 law, which forced patients and their families to either purchase cannabis oil through the mail or to drive to other states. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies have had to go underground to get this oil. Now they\u2019ll be able to get it legally in the state of Georgia,\u201d state Rep. Calvin Smyre, a Democrat from Columbus, told the\u00a0Journal Constitution<\/a>. \u201cThe key is getting the commission appointed and up and running.\u201d<\/p>\n The paper also quoted Katie Harrison of Gainesville, mother of a six-year-old son who uses cannabis oil to control his seizures<\/a>. She called the new law a \u201chuge deal\u201d for patients and their loved ones. \u201cIt won\u2019t be illegal to get our medicine anymore,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cIt\u2019s the only thing that\u2019s really made a difference. We\u2019ve seen all the other pharmaceuticals fail.\u201d<\/p>\n The new law also allows for cannabis research at two designated universities: the University of Georgia and Fort Valley State University. Rep. Smyre sits on the board of the latter. The schools will be empowered by the state to apply for federal licenses to conduct such research, according to the Macon Telegraph<\/a>. Greenhouses and new laboratories are anticipated on the campuses.<\/p>\n Since the 1960s, the University of Mississippi has been the country\u2019s only educational institution with federal approval to carry out cannabis research. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration announced<\/a> in August 2016 it would support the extension of this research opportunity to other qualified institutions around the country. The Georgia law could now put the DEA\u2019s word to the test.\u00a0<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, does your state have laws that make medical marijuana accessible?<\/p>\n The post Georgia Passes Law to Allow Medical Marijuana Cultivation<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
On April 17, Georgia\u2019s Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill allowing cultivation of cannabis for production and sale of CBD oil in the Peach State. The law is a breakthrough for patients who had previously been \u201callowed\u201d to use cannabis oil, but had no way to buy it.\u00a0Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,2069,1589,1302,734,4366,90,4846,415,139,9776,1947],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34761,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34760\/revisions\/34761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Putting Patients First<\/h4>\n
Breaking the Federal Stranglehold on Cannabis Research<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Georgia Passes Law to Allow Medical Marijuana Cultivation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"