Georgia to issue first medical marijuana cards Tuesday

rockin'robin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
24,433
Reaction score
544
ATLANTA —
Gov. Nathan Deal told Channel 2’s Lori Geary, “Tomorrow is going to be a good day,” in an exclusive interview about the launch of Georgia’s medical marijuana cards.

Geary learned the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website will go live Tuesday morning.

An emotional Deal says parents of kids with severe seizure disorders were the driving force for him signing the bill into law.

Special Section: Medical Marijuana in Georgia


“On a personal level, trying to put ourselves in their place, it would be difficult for anybody to have to watch their child have multiple seizures every day,” Deal said.

For the past several months, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Georgia’s commissioner of the Department of Public Health, and her team have been working to come up with a secure, tamper proof system.

“The application has to be submitted by your doctor,” Fitzgerald told Geary.

Patients will not be able to get approval for the cards on their own.

To qualify for the cannabis oil, patients must suffer from one of eight conditions including cancer, Multiple sclerosis, sickle cell anemia, Crohn’s Disease, Mitochondrial Disease, ALS, Parkinson’s and severe seizure disorders.

“It’s not like you leave the doctor’s office with a prescription. You visit a doctor. The doctor sends the information to us electronically, then we let you know where that card can be obtained,” Fitzgerald said.

State Rep. Allen Peake, who spearheaded the effort to legalize cannabis oil in Georgia, pointed out access is still an issue.

Patients must either travel out of state or get it shipped in by companies willing to break federal law.

As Peake works with state leaders on a plan to grow medical marijuana in Georgia, he also says there’s an easy federal fix.

“My message to our congressmen and senators is change the damn law. It’s that simple; lives are at stake here,” Peake told Geary.

Patients needing cannabis oil with less than .3 percent THC, the part of the plant that gets you high, can possibly get it shipped into Georgia, because it’s considered hemp.

Peake says folks who need a higher THC level, including those who suffer from cancer or MS, would more than likely have to travel out of state and bring the cannabis oil back.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/news/local/georgias-medical-marijuana-cards-launch-tuesday/nmdPJ/
 
I live in Georgia and one of my best friends works at the Capitol. So I'm excited this first step has been taken, but there's still so much more that needs to be done. There are also two bills that have been introduced by Representative Thompson (one for actual medical marijuana and one for recreational) that I hope will have a little more traction now.
 
I live in Georgia and one of my best friends works at the Capitol. So I'm excited this first step has been taken, but there's still so much more that needs to be done. There are also two bills that have been introduced by Representative Thompson (one for actual medical marijuana and one for recreational) that I hope will have a little more traction now.

That has been my hope also... I was actually shocked when Georgia passed for the oil ... but it is a good start. :)
 
That has been my hope also... I was actually shocked when Georgia passed for the oil ... but it is a good start. :)

I really hope so, because this bill is almost useless on its own. I'm also a little curious about what went on behind closed doors to get it through. When it looked like Deal wasn't going to pass it, Peake apparently tried to do some sketchy things.
 
I really hope so, because this bill is almost useless on its own. I'm also a little curious about what went on behind closed doors to get it through. When it looked like Deal wasn't going to pass it, Peake apparently tried to do some sketchy things.

It would be interesting to find out... sketchiness could put this and future bills at risk... not only is the bill "almost useless" but it is so restrictive that unless something opens it up I see it stalling and pushed out....
As for federal laws being changed .... that on will eventually happen, but depending on who gets in would determine if it is sooner or later.... although i ran across an article not long ago that Christy has made rumbles about going after the states that have passed medical and recreational use...

There are just too many benefits to cannabis to keep it illegal...maybe one day the government will wake up to that fact....who knows...
 
It would be interesting to find out... sketchiness could put this and future bills at risk... not only is the bill "almost useless" but it is so restrictive that unless something opens it up I see it stalling and pushed out....
As for federal laws being changed .... that on will eventually happen, but depending on who gets in would determine if it is sooner or later.... although i ran across an article not long ago that Christy has made rumbles about going after the states that have passed medical and recreational use...

There are just too many benefits to cannabis to keep it illegal...maybe one day the government will wake up to that fact....who knows...

I agree, it's just a matter of time at this point.
 
On news tonight a young boy who suffered server pain all doc give him was parcetamol he used some weed got arrested the weed took at least third of his pain.cops said could not have it this poor boy got motor neurone disease and in great pain.he could take pain no more he killed himself today....this dreadful injustice stopping someone who would benefit from ca ibis instead he taken so much Panadol it ruined his liver with that mind take no more killed himselfo
 
Back
Top