Georgia representatives vote to add PTSD to medical marijuana law
Georgia's medical marijuana law would be expanded to cover post-traumatic stress disorder and intractable pain, according to a bill that passed the state House on Wednesday.
The legislation, House Bill 764, allows those with PTSD and long-term pain to register with the state to legally use cannabis oil. The bill, which passed the House on a 145-17 vote, now moves to the state Senate.
Georgia’s current medical marijuana law, created in 2015, made it legal for people suffering from cancer and more than a dozen other illnesses to possess small amounts of cannabis oil if a physician approves.
State Rep. David Clark, the bill's sponsor, said it will save lives by keeping veterans and others off harder drugs like opioids.
“I see cannabis not as a gateway drug, but as an exit path off opioids,” Clark, R-Buford, who served in the military in Afghanistan. “It’s a medicine that has very low risks, if any, and huge rewards.”
More than 3,500 patients are currently on the state’s medical marijuana registry.
Gov. Nathan Deal opposed a separate bill to allow medical marijuana cultivation and dispensaries, but he supported adding PTSD and chronic pain to the list of treatable conditions.
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About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
