Georgia Medical Marijuana Regulators Approve New Dispensary License As More Patients Register For Program

“We will likely be opening an application opportunity for our production licensees, and that means more access for patients.”

By Alander Rocha, Georgia Recorder

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission approved a new dispensing license Wednesday, bringing the statewide total to 19, following a major patient enrollment threshold that triggered expansion under state law.

The commission’s executive director, Andrew Turnage, said the program surpassed the 25,000 active patients mark some time ago, which allowed the commission to approve the additional license. The commission voted unanimously to issue a dispensing license to FFD Georgia Holdings for a location in Atlanta. The company was the only applicant.

“I always like to share the update as it relates to the number of patients registered because we will likely be opening an application opportunity for our production licensees, and that means more access for patients,” Turnage said to the commission.

The program is also on track to approve additional licenses, with the number of active patients now at 33,314, tracking toward the 35,000 threshold. The law allows the commission to issue additional dispensing licenses after each increase of 10,000 patients after the 25,000 marker.

But despite some progress, the public comment period was dominated by urgent and frustrated statements from speakers who said the program’s framework is restrictive and limits access and effectiveness. The main complaints focused on product limitations and strict qualifying conditions, with patients, advocates and other members of the public calling for changes that would require legislative action.

Georgia’s program, which was created a decade ago, limits participation to patients with certain conditions, including cancer or seizure disorders. But for several of the conditions, state law requires the diagnosis to be severe or end stage.

Lawmakers have considered expanding the program in recent years, and a House study panel is currently examining Georgia’s medical marijuana policies.

Dr. Elmore Alexander, a medical director with U.S. 420 Doc, an online service providing medical cannabis card evaluations, said Georgia’s low-THC oil program lacks the necessary delivery methods to adequately treat patients with complex conditions. The program is “not a compassionate program,” he said, and currently prohibited methods, such as smoke inhalation, could help patients with conditions with sudden onset of symptoms like post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I don’t have enough products to take care of [my patients]. I don’t have enough,” Alexander said, arguing that the state needs to expand the program to include a greater variety of products that address different conditions.

Several speakers, including former Rep. Micah Gravley, a key figure in passing the Georgia medical cannabis law, called for removing the “severe and end-stage” caveats currently attached to many qualifying conditions. They argued that these vague terms create confusion for doctors because they aren’t medically based and prevent patients from accessing treatment before their conditions become terminal.

Gravley, who said he supports the state expanding the program, said the program’s limited scope was due to a lack of industry knowledge among lawmakers at the time the law passed.

“I think you had a lot of legislators who were very cautious, very nervous about doing this, and really saw the tone and tenor of parents who were bringing their children down, caregivers were giving testimonials about family members, and so they went out on a limb. Unfortunately, during that time, the limb was too short,” Gravley said.

This story was first published by Georgia Recorder.