More Georgians now qualify for medical cannabis program
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Georgia's biggest-ever expansion of its medical cannabis program takes effect Wednesday, allowing stronger products, more qualifying conditions, and sales through independent pharmacies.
Why it matters: The changes significantly broaden access to regulated medical cannabis and may bring Georgia closer to neighboring Southern states' programs.
- Industry leaders believe enrollment may eventually triple.
Zoom in: The changes, passed under the Putting Georgia's Patients First Act, permit medical cannabis in vape form, which has a faster onset than oils or edibles, for patients 21 and over.
- The law also replaces the state's 5% THC potency cap with a 12,000-milligram possession limit.
- It also increases the number of and broadens the qualifying medical conditions, which include lupus and inflammatory bowel disease.
Georgia's more than 400 independent pharmacies can now sell medical cannabis — a first in the nation, Botanical Sciences CEO Gary Long, tells Axios.
- The move makes the drug more accessible to people who don't live near one of the state's roughly 20 licensed dispensaries, most of which are in metro Atlanta or central Georgia.
By the numbers: 35,662 Georgia residents are active patients in the medical marijuana program, according to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission.
- Long says expanded eligibility, new product options and broader access through pharmacies could triple enrollment in the next 12 months.
Zoom out: Georgia is moving away from one of the country's most restrictive medical cannabis programs while cracking down on the less regulated hemp market.
- Hemp industry leaders are lobbying Congress to change a federal law set to take effect this November that would greatly reduce the amount of total THC per container. Businesses say the new limit is so small that they many products would be commercially unviable.