ATLANTA – Just 25 acres or 1 million square feet would be enough space to cultivate all of the marijuana needed to treat the patients in Georgia with eight conditions making them eligible to take medicinal oil from the plant, a California grower told a state commission Wednesday.
But will conservative patients in the Bible Belt use the treatment, asked Albany-native Mike Bragg, president of Silicon Valley-based CBD Pharms.
“The biggest component is really getting the patients on board,” he told the Commission on Medical Cannabis.
For the commission, the biggest challenge is how to structure and regulate the cultivation and production of the oil. It took testimony from Bragg and other experts on what commission Chairman Rep. Allen Peake calls “the business case” for producing the medicine in Georgia. The Macon Republican who sponsored the law allowing possession of limited amounts of low-concentration oil owns a chain of restaurants and is concerned that the state not create regulations that prevent producers from making a long-term profit.
One issue is whether the commission should license a few companies to grow the plants, extract the oil, package the medicine and sell it or open it up to more companies handling the various stages of production. Florida takes the first approach while California takes the second.
Colorado and Oregon have loose regulations and allow recreational use of marijuana, and Peake and other politicians have vowed not to allow Georgia to follow their example.
Federal law prohibits possession and shipping of marijuana. Even though enforcement in the Obama administration is unenthusiastic, it is a barrier to Georgia patients who can now possess the oil under state law because they have no way to get the oil. That’s why the commission wants to establish a mechanism for producing it in Georgia.
“If we have a change of administration and they decide they want to aggressively enforce this, what happens to the industry if it’s set up here?” asked commission member Vernon Keenan, the director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Jason Cranford, founder of the Colorado-based Flowering Hope Foundation that ships oil to customers in other states as a “food item,” told Keenan robust enforcement was unlikely.
“They can’t put the genie back in the bottle,” he said, arguing there are not enough federal agents and too many patients using it.
However, another witness said just his testimony to the commission could draw unwanted law enforcement attention.
“I have trepidation that I will be on the radar with the (Federal Drug Enforcement Administration) just by being here today, but that’s OK,” said Bob Blake, an Oregon-based oil producer. “That’s what pioneers do.”
Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order last year instructing Georgia Regents University to participate in clinical trials that will make the oil available to the participants until in-state production begins. In the meantime, the commission plans three more meetings this year and may recommend legislation or draft regulations then.
Follow Walter Jones on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com.
