For the past three years state Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) has been the driving force behind the movement to allow the use of cannabis oil to treat specific medical conditions in the state. While the idea of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, (or even general medical use) has remained taboo in Georgia, the notion of allowing patients to use cannabis oil, bereft of any mind-altering effects, has remained popular.
That popularity was proven once again this week, as Peake announced the results of a poll from the Tarrance Group of Alexandria, Virginia, showing that some 77% of Georgians approve of the use of cannabis oil to treat symptoms of their diseases, while 71% approve of allowing marijuana to be cultivated in the state for medical purposes only.
Peake’s first bill, 2015’s HB 1 or the ‘Haleigh’s Hope Act,’ received national attention as the first of its kind in Georgia. Named after Haleigh Cox, a five year old girl whose constant seizures could only be cured by cannabis oil, the bill allowed for patients suffering from a small list of pre-approved medical conditions to register and use cannabis oil to alleviate their symptoms. Last year Peake carried state Sen. Ben Watson’s SB 16, which expanded that list of conditions and established a ‘Low THC Oil Patient Registry.’
Still though, according to Peake, more work needs to be done. “There are now 29 states that allow cultivation of marijuana within their own borders for medicinal purposes,” said he said in a prepared statement accompanying the poll. “Georgia is behind the rest of the nation, and sick people are suffering needlessly because we have not updated our laws to allow for in-state cultivation of this product.”
Despite the passage of the bills, actually getting cannabis oil remains a major issue. It is illegal to cultivate medical marijuana in the state, and the drug, even in its low-THC oil form, is illegal to transport across state lines. Patients or loved-ones of patients who seek the medicine must go to great lengths and assume great risks to get their hands on what is often the only source of relief for their symptoms.
Peake’s poll, which was conducted in late November and has a 4.5% margin of error, clearly shows that Georgians support making it easier for patients to access cannabis oil as well as making it legal for them to obtain it in the state.
Advocates of medical or even recreational marijuana are looking on from the sidelines as well with great interest, for while cannabis oil has no mind-altering properties, the slow march towards acceptance of marijuana, once a non-starter throughout the south, beckons in the distance. Already Arkansas and Florida have actual medical cannabis, not just oil, available to those suffering from a wide range of illnesses.
You can see the full results of the poll below.
