State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, on Monday officially filed his medical marijuana bill with nearly 100 co-sponsors.
Peake's bill, House Bill 1, will be assigned to committee on Tuesday. It will offer immunity from prosecution to Georgia families who possess a strain of cannabis oil that may be used to treat a variety of disorders.
Peake said he’s hopeful that an out-of-state manufacturer will soon agree to ship the product directly to Georgia patients, eliminating the immediate need for a Georgia-based growing and manufacturing program.
But, he said, HB 1 needs to pass first.
“It’s all contingent on the immunity language in this bill being passed,” Peake said. “The language is crucial.”
Co-sponsors of the bill include several of the House’s top leaders, including Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, R-Milton, Rules Committee Chairman John Meadows, R-Calhoun, and the chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn.
Shannon Cloud, the mother of a child with a seizure disorder, said Peake’s bill being introduced is an important moment but work remains.
“I look forward to having all the legal steps worked out,” she said.
The bill originally was to include a state-based program to grow and cultivate the drug, which is low in the chemical that produces a high. But Gov. Nathan Deal balked and said more study is needed. Instead, Peake’s bill only includes the immunity language.
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