ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia may soon allow the production and sale of low-potency medical marijuana oil within the state.
The new measure, introduced Thursday in the Georgia House, would give patients who are already allowed to possess low potency marijuana oil access to the product. It would close a loophole created by the state’s 2015 medical marijuana law that allowed patients to possess the drug but provided no real way to obtain it.
Current state law allows individuals with 16 specific conditions, including cancer, seizure disorders and Parkinson’s disease, to possess low-potency medical marijuana oil. But it remains illegal to grow, process, buy, sell and transport.
The proposal, authored by Republican Rep. Micah Gravley, would allow 10 licenses to grow and manufacture the substance in Georgia and could create as many as 50 retail locations. Gravley said it would provide safe access to medical marijuana for more than 8,000 patients in the state.
“I have personally seen the benefits of medical marijuana on both young and old members of my family,” Gravley said. “I know this works. I wouldn’t be standing here today if I had any doubt in my mind.”