{"id":53607,"date":"2022-03-16T06:24:17","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T14:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/16\/georgia-house-and-senate-pass-differing-medical-marijuana-bills-to-jumpstart-stalled-program\/"},"modified":"2022-03-16T13:46:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T21:46:45","slug":"georgia-house-and-senate-pass-differing-medical-marijuana-bills-to-jumpstart-stalled-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/16\/georgia-house-and-senate-pass-differing-medical-marijuana-bills-to-jumpstart-stalled-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia House And Senate Pass Differing Medical Marijuana Bills To Jumpstart Stalled Program"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 10 years, we have realized that there are constituents in just about every one of your districts that need this.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some long-awaited relief through cannabis oil could be in sight for some Georgians with serious health conditions.<\/p>\n

State House lawmakers approved a do-over of the state\u2019s medical marijuana program, which has been stalled in court. The measure passed 169-5 Tuesday, and a separate medical marijuana measure passed the Senate unanimously.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I could say we\u2019re in a good spot, but we\u2019re not,\u201d said Glennville Republican Rep. Bill Werkheiser, the bill\u2019s sponsor. \u201cWe\u2019ve had patients now numbered 20,000\u201420,000families waiting for us to do something. If we do nothing, we\u2019re in a bad position. If we do something, it\u2019s not so great either, but I think we\u2019ve got something that will move the process forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the bill<\/a> passes the Senate and receives Republican Gov. Brian Kemp\u2019s signature, the state will be required to obtain low-THC cannabis oil \u201cfrom any available legal source\u201d by August 1 and begin providing it to patients now on the state registry by August 15.<\/p>\n

The state will also cancel the previous application process and begin anew, choosing another six providers. Companies that applied last time can apply again and will not have to pay the application fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve literally created a time machine,\u201d Werkheiser said.<\/p>\n

The legislature initially passed a law to provide low-THC cannabis oil to patients who suffer from a list of specific conditions in 2015 and six companies were approved to produce the substance, but companies that applied but were not approved have challenged the decision leaving Georgians unable to legally obtain the potentially life-changing medicine.<\/p>\n

Hartwell Republican Rep. Alan Powell called the former process \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and implied the fix was in for the selected companies. Powell, who filed his own legislation that would have granted licenses to all of the protesting companies, said the new bill will ensure transparency and deliver the medicine to the people who need it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy all means, vote for this, let\u2019s get it on across,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a little bit of time because we\u2019re going to have to deal with that crowd across the hall, and if they can foul up something, they\u2019re going to do their best to do it. So maybe if we get it on over there, we can get it moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Senate unanimously approved its own medical marijuana legislation, Senate Bill 609<\/a>, which takes a different approach, requiring the medical cannabis commission to issue its initial licenses by May 31. Sponsors of the bill say it will speed up the slow process.<\/p>\n

Tuesday was the last day in the 2022 legislative session for a bill to move from one chamber to another for it to have a clear path to passage this year, which Werkheiser\u2019s bill now has.<\/p>\n

Acworth Republican state Rep. Ed Setzler voted for the bill, praising it for sticking to the strict limits lawmakers initially approved, but he warned his colleagues that it could open the door for a push for recreational marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a movement behind the scenes, and it\u2019s very soon going to be out in the open, that\u2019s going to be monetizing this process to push for full-on what you would call medical\/recreational marijuana and making Georgia a recreational state,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s coming. The money behind this, that\u2019s protecting these [requests for proposals], is driving this, it\u2019s a nationwide movement, it is coming to Georgia. And they see this process as just a step in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Douglasville Republican Rep. Micah Gravley said that should not be a concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not become a recreational state, we have not implemented medical smoking or anything like that,\u201d he said. \u201cMatter of fact, we have a very strict law, you can\u2019t even advertise with the color green in our law. There are no edibles in our law. You can\u2019t even have a standalone education center in our laws for our patients seeking this, who has been recommended by their physician, who\u2019s wanting education on this particular subject, you can\u2019t even have a standalone education center.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 10 years, we have realized that there are constituents in just about every one of your districts that need this,\u201d he added. \u201cYes, it did start out with some children and their parents that came to the balcony, that came to the rotunda, but friends, I will tell you, this affects young and old. Look at the diagnoses that we have in our law. Children don\u2019t get Parkinson\u2019s disease. How many people suffer from MS? Tourette\u2019s? Sickle cell anemia? Ulcerative colitis? There\u2019s a lot of people in this state that will benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Georgia Recorder.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Rhode Island Senate Committee Discusses Marijuana Legalization Bill, With Advocates Urging Equity Revision<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Georgia House And Senate Pass Differing Medical Marijuana Bills To Jumpstart Stalled Program<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Georgia House And Senate Pass Differing Medical Marijuana Bills To Jumpstart Stalled Program<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOver the last 10 years, we have realized that there are constituents in just about every one of your districts that need this.\u201d By Ross Williams, Georgia Recorder Some long-awaited relief through cannabis oil could be in sight for some Georgians with serious health conditions. State House lawmakers approved aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53607"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53608,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53607\/revisions\/53608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}