Georgia Miscounts Cannabis Patient Numbers; Trulieve’s Sixth Dispensary Likely on Hold

Georgia’s only two medical cannabis operators might be temporarily maxed out on the number of dispensaries that can open following reports that a state department overstated active patient numbers.

Trulieve and Botanical Sciences, which hold Class 1 production licenses to cultivate cannabis and sell low-THC oil to qualified patients, currently hold five dispensary licenses each from the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission (GMCC).

According to state law, the commission can issue a sixth retail license per production licensee when the state’s registry reaches 25,000 patients and an additional retail license per production company for every 10,000 patients added after that.

The 25,000-patient threshold was assumed to be met when the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) reported in July that roughly 30,600 active patients and 21,000 caregivers were registered in the state. But these numbers were largely overstated, according to multiple local news sources.

As of this week, DPH officials are saying there are only 13,000 active patients and 1,200 caregivers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 11 Alive News reported.

This miscue was a result of “anomalies,” including patients with expired cards who were never removed from the registry, patients who have died (roughly 3,400), patients with duplicate cards and even patients who were dually counted as caregivers, DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam told the Journal-Constitution.

Although GMCC officials request and rely on registry data from DPH, the GMCC does not have any access to, or have information about, the registry other than information publicly provided by DPH, GMCC Executive Director Andrew Turnage told Cannabis Business Times.

The DPH patient count anomalies perhaps are rooted in Georgia’s two-step process toward legalization, first with 2015’s Haleigh’s Hope Act allowing Georgia patients to possess low-THC oil, and then with 2019’s Georgia’s Hope Act providing the actual access to that oil by authorizing the GMCC to oversee a limited license market. The state’s first dispensaries did not open until April 2023. 

Regardless, the inaccurate patient count by government officials is potentially damaging to Trulieve and Botanical Sciences’ business plans, which revolve around proper supply for expected demand as well as real estate transactions related to future store openings.

Trulieve opened it fifth Georgia dispensary earlier this month in Evans and has a sixth dispensary listed as “coming soon” in Columbus, pending GMCC approval. But the commission cannot issue a license for the Columbus location now with the revelation that the actual patient count is nowhere near what had been reported just a couple months ago.

Cannabis Business Times reached out to Trulieve for comment on this matter; the Florida-based company did not respond.

With regard to demand, patients with one or more of 18 medical conditionscan legally purchase up to 20 fluid ounces of cannabis oils containing no more than 5% THC for use in oral or topical forms. To meet this demand, Trulieve and Botanical Sciences are licensed to operate up to 100,000 square feet of indoor growing space.

Botanical Sciences CEO Gary Long told the Journal-Constitution that the state’s inaccurate reporting has consequences on businesses decisions.

“It is disappointing to find out that the information the state has provided is inaccurate,” he said. “Our focus should be on how we move past this in a cohesive way that increases awareness of this industry in our state and the availability of these therapeutic products for patients in need.”

A state with a similar population to Georgia, Ohio has roughly 182,000 active medical cannabis patients, but Ohio launched its retail program in 2019 and does not limit access to low-THC oil.