The commission that oversees medical marijuana in Georgia is proposing a series of rules for production, inspections and distribution, a critical step toward allowing sales to registered patients.
The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission published 106 pages of regulations Friday that it will consider before dispensaries can open next year to serve over 24,400 patients and 17,700 caregivers. The commission plans to vote on the rules Jan. 25.
If approved, two companies awarded licenses to produce low-THC oil could begin selling it to patients suffering from illnesses including severe seizures, Parkinson’s disease and terminal cancers.
State law has allowed registered patients to use low THC oil since 2015, but until now, they’ve had no legal way to buy it.
The commission picked Trulieve Georgia Inc. and Botanical Sciences LLC in September as the state’s first two licensed medical marijuana companies.
Trulieve recently opened its medical cannabis facility in Adel in South Georgia, where cultivation of plants has already begun in anticipation of the beginning of sales. The company plans dispensaries in Marietta, Macon and Pooler.
“We have been hard at work to begin operations in the most safe and efficient manner to ensure those in need have access to Trulieve’s products,” said Trulieve Georgia President Lisa Pinkney. “We are proud to bring jobs and economic development to South Georgia, and to educate the Georgia medical community on the potential benefits of cannabis for patients with qualifying conditions.”
Botanical Sciences’ production facility will operate in Glennville in southwest Georgia.
The proposed rules cover quality control, product tracking, labeling, dispensing locations and enforcement. Each licensed production company is allowed to open up to five dispensaries.
Sales would be allowed only to patients or caregivers with a valid Low-THC Oil Patient Registry card, and the rules prohibit marketing to children through cartoons, candies or depictions of people or animals.
The rules are available for public review and comment on the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission’s website at gmcc.ga.gov. A public hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18 in Gainesville before a scheduled vote on the rules through Zoom and teleconference on Jan. 25.
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