ATLANTA – More than 100 new patients have received permission to use a form of medical marijuana in Georgia this month, bringing the statewide total of people using the product to more than 1,800 less than three years after the state began the program.
They still don't have easy access to the drug, which can't legally be produced in Georgia or brought across state lines under federal law. Instead, patients and families have to find a manufacturer willing to ship products or travel to another state where the oil is made and risk being caught breaking the law as they return home.
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Even more people have registered as "caregivers," a separate category in state records that includes parents or others caring for children or others who can't manage their own medication and may not have a state-issued card to possess the oil. Since May 9 when the latest expansion law took effect, 185 people registered as caregivers bringing the statewide total to 2,248.