Georgia State Senators Crafting Medical Marijuana Bill

State senators are crafting a bill for debate this January that would eliminate barriers to medical marijuana use, according to a report from WSB-TV.

The bill will propose state-sanctioned medical marijuana grow houses and immunity from prosecution for patients who travel out-of-state to purchase it in its more potent forms.

The bill sponsor, state Rep. Allen Peake (R) has been working with families lobbying for the change, many who have young children with seizure disorders who they believe would benefit from medical use. He says he’s learned a lot over the past year and hope to pass an even better bill this year that would allow private entities to actually grow medical marijuana in Georgia.

Peake says his proposal specifies that the medical marijuana grown in Georgia would be low THC so patients would not get high from it. Many families, frustrated with the lack of treatment options in Georgia and the state’s hardline stance against medical marijuana, have moved out of state even as they lobby for change. Peake’s bill would provide families immunity from prosecution if they legally obtain it in other states and want to move back to Georgia.

Peake said he’ll also expand the bill to include availability for other disorders shown to benefit from the drug.

“If what we’re going to do is legalize a product that is so low in THC that there’s no way to get high off of it, why not provide it as an alternative for other diagnoses—cancer, glaucoma, ALS?” Peake said.