The two Georgia lawmakers behind two different medical cannabis expansion plans say they’re in talks, as the annual legislative session reaches its closing days.
Under a bill by state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, Georgia’s medical cannabis oil registry would be opened to patients who have several new diagnoses. Those diagnoses are: AIDS or HIV, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, autoimmune disease, the painful skin disease epidermolysis bullosa, peripheral neuropathy, Tourette’s syndrome, or those who are in a hospice program. It also would open the registry earlier in the course of treatment to people who have cancer; Lou Gehrig's disease, also known as ALS; multiple sclerosis; Parkinson’s disease; or sickle cell disease.
Peake’s House Bill 65 passed the state House easily. The state Senate debated a bit before approving its own bill, Senate Bill 16, by state Sen. Ben Watson, R-Savannah.
That bill would open the registry to people who have autism. It would also cut the amount of THC that’s allowed in cannabis oil in Georgia from 5 percent to 3 percent. THC is the main chemical in marijuana that causes a high.
