Good news boosts Georgia medical marijuana supporters

Medical marijuana poll

A new poll shows wide majorities of Georgians support the legalization of medical marijuana. The poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, was conducted Nov. 23-24. Four hundred likely voters were surveyed, and the margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

The key findings:

• 80 percent of Georgians support legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, even if the drug includes higher levels of THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high.
• 27 percent support full legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
• 17 percent oppose any legalization of marijuana.
• 85 percent support legalization of marijuana if the medication "would not get a person high."

Source: McLaughlin & Associates

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Supporters of the push to legalize medical marijuana in Georgia have two new reasons to feel good about their chances of changing state law in 2015.

First, Congress approved, and President Barack Obama signed into law, a measure that eliminated funding for the Department of Justice to enforce federal laws blocking the use of medical marijuana in states that have their own laws on the books.

Second, a new private poll obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows huge majorities of Georgians support legalizing the use of medical marijuana under certain conditions.

State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the primary sponsor of medical marijuana bills in the General Assembly, said the recent developments verify "that Georgians are ready for a medical cannabis program that provides relief for citizens."

Tucked away in the massive federal spending plan approved earlier this month by Congress was a little-noticed provision that essentially handcuffs federal law enforcement from enforcing medical marijuana laws in the 33 states and the District of Columbia that have passed laws allowing its use.

While Georgia is not yet one of those states, Peake said he’s been assured Georgians would be safe should the law change here.

“It’s a real game-changer in the medical cannabis world,” he said. “It really prohibits the (Drug Enforcement Administration) or the federal government from blocking states that have exercised their sovereign right to come up with a solution for their citizens on their own.”

Peake said attorneys he’s consulted assured him Georgians would be protected from prosecution if his bill, House Bill 1, passes in the legislative session that begins Jan. 12.

“Per expert legal advice, we would be under that umbrella, if you will,” Peake said.

Others, however, are not as certain.

Anthony Michael Kreis, who teaches law at the University of Georgia and is a doctoral candidate in the School of Public and International Affairs, said the federal legislation, known as the Cromnibus, specifically listed the states to which it applied.

“That being said, it isn’t apparent that the Obama administration would attempt to target Georgia if HB 1 or a similar measure was enacted,” Kreis said. “However, Georgia can’t seek refuge in the Cromnibus provision and would need to seek additional federal legislation or perhaps challenge the constitutionality of selective state-by-state enforcement in court.”

Emory University Law School professor Alexander Volokh agreed with Kreis but said it’s unlikely the Department of Justice would prosecute Georgians following state law.

“Probably, as a political matter, the DOJ would choose not do so because it seems like Congress had a general idea of protecting the implementing of state medical marijuana programs and this would go against the spirit of that,” he said. “Even though it would be perfectly legal to enforce the law in Georgia, they would probably choose not to.”

What is clear, however, at least according to the new poll, is that Georgians overwhelmingly support the proposed changes.

McLaughlin & Associates, whose clients include nearly ever statewide-elected Republican in Georgia, conducted the poll Nov. 23-24. It asked 400 likely voters a variety of questions about legalization of medical marijuana. Among the key findings:

• 80 percent of Georgians support legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, even if the drug includes higher levels of THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high.
• 27 percent support full legalization of marijuana for recreational use.
• 17 percent oppose any legalization of marijuana.
• 85 percent support legalization of marijuana if the medication "would not get a person high."

The poll was paid for by Surterra Holdings, an Atlanta investment firm interested in the business possibilities of medical marijuana.

Surterra CEO Jake Bergmann and chief operating officer Wes Van Dyk have met with Peake and a host of other state lawmakers to encourage the General Assembly to tap the economic potential of legalization. If the bill passes, Bergmann sees the potential of $200 million a year in new state revenue as companies are created to grow, cultivate, process and sell the new medications.

Even they were surprised by the poll results.

“We knew it would poll over 50 percent,” Bergmann said. “We were shocked. Our pollster was shocked.”

Bergman and Van Dyk, who have hired the high-powered lobbyist firm McGuire Woods, said the poll shows support for medical marijuana extends beyond what Peake proposed this past legislative session. That bill, which died in the session's final days, would have only legalized an oil derived from marijuana to treat certain seizure disorders.

This time, however, the pair is advocating for a broader bill that would also allow the use of medical marijuana to help patients with cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain and other conditions.

Peake has pre-filed his bill for 2015, but it’s merely a shell at this point, with few details. Peake, who led a legislative study committee on the subject over the summer, has not yet said how broad his final bill will be. But he appeared to endorse most of Bergman and Van Dyk’s proposals at the study committee’s final meeting earlier this month.

“Possible recommendations assert the need for a strictly regulated system of cultivating, processing and dispensing of medical cannabis that would be nonsmokable, a notion that I have been a proponent of since the beginning stages of this discussion,” Peake said Dec. 3.