ATLANTA (AP) – The Georgia House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday to legalize cannabis oil for the treatment of nine major health problems, including sickle cell disease added at the last minute.
The bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Allen Peake of Macon, said he added sickle cell disease by amendment to his House Bill 1 at the request of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. The disease, also known as sickle cell anemia, overwhelmingly affects African-Americans.
The medical marijuana bill passed 158-2 and now goes to the state Senate, where considerable opposition is all but certain. The list of eligible conditions is expected to be whittled to just a few diagnoses in the upper chamber.
Gov. Nathan Deal, who must sign the measure for it to become law, has said he supports the use of cannabis oil for treatment of seizure disorders. Peake said he does not expect Deal to support the bill in its current form. He said in an interview he cut the number of eligible conditions from its original 17 because it would have had no chance of passage in the Senate, or possibly even the House.
A cannabis oil bill failed in the General Assembly last year. In its current form, the bill would allow cannabis oil for treatment of seizure disorders, cancer, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, Mitochondrial disease, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson’s disease and sickle cell disease.