On Wednesday, 157 of my House colleagues joined me in voting for House Bill 1, Haleigh’s Hope Act, the medical cannabis oil bill.
This bill will allow legal immunity for possession of cannabis oil with a maximum amount of 5 percent THC for nine qualifying conditions: cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial disease, fibromyalgia and sickle cell disease.
Individuals with these qualifying conditions will be immune from prosecution once obtaining a registration card from the Georgia Department of Public Health only upon a recommendation from their physician. This provision was included to keep the doctor-patient relationship at the core of any decision related to accessing cannabis oil.
We also addressed law enforcement concerns by only allowing a maximum amount of 20 ounces; possession above that amount will be a felony, with a minimum one-year jail term.
The bill also creates a Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis to make a recommendation to the governor and General Assembly by December of the best regulatory infrastructure for an in-state growth/distribution model for medical cannabis in Georgia. The commission will be made up of medical professionals, law enforcement officials, Department of Agriculture leadership, pharmacists, and the head of the state’s drug and narcotics agency, among others.
Even if HB 1 gains the signature of Gov. Nathan Deal — and I believe he would sign the bill in its current form — there will still be hurdles and obstacles to overcome to gain access to cannabis oil for our citizens. We are working diligently to overcome these obstacles, and I believe we have some viable alternatives. But until we have an in-state growth/processing/distribution model, these obstacles will remain a barrier to access.
Many critics have warned about potential abuse from passing this law. Sure, there is the possibility of that happening with any bill we pass, but I would counter that by saying individuals who wish to abuse marijuana are not going to travel to another state and risk arrest by violating federal law by bringing low-THC oil back to Georgia. They will go to any street corner in any city in our state and purchase weed that is 15 to 20 percent THC and can be smoked!
The fear of potential abuse ignores the significant positive impact passage of this bill will have on the quality of life for thousands of Georgia citizens.
I would like to say thank-you to state Rep. Rich Golick, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (non-civil), for his wise counsel and guidance in perfecting this bill over the last two to three weeks; to House Speaker David Ralston for making this issue a priority on behalf of Georgia families, and finally, to parents who have fought this fight for the last year for their kids who suffer from seizures. They have showed me what true courage is as they endure challenges every day that most of us cannot even imagine.
To the citizens of this state, I believe with strong conviction that passage of this bill is not an indication of a slippery slope, as many argue, but a confirmation of our compassionate reach by the Georgia House of Representatives and by Governor Deal’s support for this initiative.
Now that the House has overwhelmingly voted to pass HB 1, I encourage the Senate to join us in this confirmation by passing this bill quickly, keeping all the medical conditions in the bill, and sending it to Governor Deal so we can start the process of bringing our medical refugees back home.
We owe our citizens our united support and compassion to give them access to medicine that can bring relief from pain, and hope for the future.
For more information, visit www.georgiashope.com or my Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/1BBBeMn.
State Rep. Allen Peake is a Republican from Macon.
