ATLANTA — Across the country, 22 states now allow some form of medical marijuana use. That reality, plus lawmaker sentiment in Georgia and Washington, could help break the state’s de facto prohibition in 2015.
The first step, though small, has already happened. Last week, Georgia Regents University announced a deal with British company GW Pharmaceuticals to plan clinical trials of a liquid cannabis extract called “cannabidiol,” or CBD, for intractable pediatric seizures. The United Kingdom has already approved that treatment.
The university’s move came with the blessing and partnership of Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who first announced the idea in April.
Weeks earlier, the Legislature nearly opened a wider route to CBD oil for children who suffer dozens of seizures daily. The popularity of House Bill 815 may have killed it, in fact. It would have decriminalized possession of CBD oil on behalf of children who have a valid recommendation for it from a physician. Supporters of an unrelated and less-popular bill on autism insurance coverage attached their language to HB 815, a tactic that backfired and killed both measures.
When the next legislative session begins in January, HB 815’s author, state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, plans to reintroduce the same idea, and he hopes for fast-track passage.
via Minnesota could be model for new Ga. push on medical cannabis | State Legislature | Macon.com.
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