Gutted medical marijuana bill to move forward, Middle Georgia lawmaker offers to become drug mule

Jail or bust, man!

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A push to legalize a specific kind of medical marijuana is expected to take a big step forward next week. But in doing so, Republican state lawmakers have scaled back once-major changes to the state’s law.

Top state officials, including Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, have effectively gutted legislation that would have allowed a small number of license holders to grow, produce, and distribute cannabidiol oil, marijuana-derived medicine that is available in either a liquid or pill form.

The revised bill — state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, is telling media outlets he will introduce it next week — would allow men, women, and children suffering from seizures, cancer, and several other diseases to legally possess the treatment. Prospective cannabis oil producers and distributors, however, will have to wait at least until 2016 to enjoy legal protections.

Insider Advantage has the details:

The revised bill reflects a compromise with Gov. Nathan Deal that gives immunity from prosecution to families who purchase cannabis oil with small amounts of THC, the chemical in marijuana that causes intoxication. The legislation will also set up a commission to recommend a regulatory structure for marijuana cultivation in Georgia for medical purposes. The legislation would not allow the smoking of marijuana or its recreational use.

“We’re getting the final sign-off from leadership on the revised HB1, if you will, and we’re planning on introducing it, probably on Monday,” Peake told this InsiderAdvantage writer Wednesday. Peake prefiled HB 1, the original version of the legislation.

With the support of House Speaker David Ralston and Deal, Peake said he’s hopeful the Legislature will streamline the bill. “I’m fully expecting to have it on the governor’s desk very quickly and start bringing families back home.”

Not everybody’s happy with medical marijuana compromise. In addition to not legalizing cannabis oil production — something Peake had initially pushed for — the bill might not fully protect the parents and children it seeks to help. The Associated Press explains:

The compromise disappointed some Georgia parents of children with seizure disorders who moved to Colorado, where the oil is legal. They worry people will be unable to afford the travel or risk arrest when traveling through states where the product is not legal.

Blaine Cloud, whose daughter Alaina has a seizure condition, told reporters they were “disheartened and frustrated” but said families owed Peake some support.

“We need to get this bill passed so we can move on to the next fight,” he said.

Peake said he’s working on several options to help people avoid arrest while traveling to buy the oil or those who can’t afford the trip. He said those include shipping low-THC products classified as hemp to Georgia or asking Deal to get a federal exemption allowing a state agency to obtain cannabis oil for ‘compassionate-need’ distribution.

The Macon lawmaker has also offered his services as a drug mule — doing, in his words, a “little civil disobedience” — to help families bring cannabis oil from Colorado to Georgia. Jail or bust, man!