Georgia House passes bill expanding medical cannabis program, adding conditions

A bill passed the state House Thursday that will change laws around the state’s medical cannabis program.

Senate Bill 220, or the Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act, passed 138 to 21 and is headed back to the state Senate for a vote on the changes.

The law would rename the program from “low-THC oil” to “medical cannabis,” allow an inhalation option to the medication, prohibit public use and change restrictions around dosing from percent of THC to milligrams, according to GPB News.

“This isn’t about legalizing recreational marijuana, even though the federal government has now moved it from a Schedule I to a Schedule III at the bottom of the hill,” said state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell. “This is about helping people, and I hear questions when people talk about adding these illnesses onto this list… When people are hurting, they need relief.”

The bill also adds new medical conditions to the list, such as lupus and severe insomnia. The program was created in 2015 when the state first passed the legislation.

Although the bill received positive feedback from most lawmakers, a Republican lawmaker said she was threatened regarding the bill.

“Earlier this week, I received an email threatening me that if I voted yes on this bill, I would be dinged on a legislative scorecard,” said state Rep. Beth Camp, R-Concord. “As I read that email, frankly, it made me quite mad, and a performance appraisal from a lobbying organization that did not elect me, attempting to tell me how to legislate, is not how I operate. My constituents sent me here to critically think, to evaluate the facts, and make the best decisions possible for the people I represent.”