Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, gave a couple of whoops Tuesday after the Georgia Senate overwhelmingly passed medical marijuana legislation that he said will allow the state’s “medical refugees” to come home.
“This is a great day for families who are suffering and who are hurting,” Peake told reporters after the Senate on a 48-6 vote approved the proposal that will allow the use of a small amount of cannabis oil for the treatment of eight medical conditions.
As families with children who suffer from seizures stood beside him, Peake said ‘it’s a proud moment for me, but I’m more excited that there’s better days ahead for these families.”
Peake said that he will ask the House Wednesday to accept Senate changes to his House Bill 1 so that the legislation can go to Gov. Nathan Deal for likely signing this week.
The Senate version of the proposal included most of the provisions of Peake’s bill previously passed by the House. A previously passed Senate bill that sets up clinical trials for medical marijuana use was also incorporated into the proposal, along with technical changes.
The legislation would decriminalize possession of cannabis oil by Georgians, allowing those who have gone to Colorado, where marijuana use is legal, to return. Federal law prohibits transporting marijuana derivatives across state lines, but the bill if it becomes law will allow cannabis oil manufacturers to ship their products here. And, Georgians who possess cannabis oil here will not be prosecuted.
The use of up to 20 fluid ounces of cannabis oil with a maximum of 5 percent THC would be allowed for those suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, ALS, Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial disease and sickle cell disease.
The Senators voted down a proposed amendment by Sen. Joshua McKoon, R-Columbus, to include autism, a major issue for the Senate. But after entreaties by Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, the autism amendment lost on a vote of 11 yeas and 44 nays. “I feel very strongly about autism,” Millar said. “This isn’t the time, this isn’t the place for autism.”
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Sen. Charlie Bethel, R-Dalton, expressed disappointment that Bethel’s bill to require insurance coverage for children suffering from autism is apparently bottled up in the House Insurance Committee after passing the Senate. The legislation, which seeks coverage for a specific autism treatment, was one of the priorities of the Senate’s Republican leadership this session.
Bethel, who supported the medical marijuana bill, took to the well to criticize the House for the autism bill “not being able to rise and fall on its own merits.” He took aim at House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, who opposes the autism measure because of its costs to small businesses.
“I am looking for leadership in the Georgia House of Representatives,” Bethel said. “I am looking for leadership to affirm my hope, to rebuild my hope. Because it’s not what it once was. Please let us see it, because these are not the only Georgians (those in the medical marijuana bill) looking for hope.”
Cagle, in response to a parliamentary question, said “the Senate has a strong position on autism, and it’s unfortunate that the House does not.”
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, took the lead in fashioning the Senate changes as chairperson of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, negotiating with Peake to reach a compromise. Peake praised Unterman for her work.
Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, one of the governor’s floor leaders, sponsored the bill on the Senate floor. In a dramatic closing argument, Miller said “no man should be separated from his family for need of health issues.”
The Senate also rejected amendments that would have lowered the THC amount to .3 percent and reversed the prosecution immunity. An amendment by Unterman to protect employers taking steps for a drug-free workplace passed without objection..
Under the legislation, patients seeking use of the cannabis oil would have to register with the Georgia Department of Public Health and be placed on a registry. After a physician’s recommendation, a patient would receive a registration card. Those with cards would be exempt from prosecution for possessing medical cannabis oil that had been legially obtained in another state.
The bill also creates the Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis to study the creation of manufacture and distribution of medical marijuana products.
