Georgia lawmakers approve Senate Bill 220 to expand medical cannabis options for patients

Senate Bill 220 renames low THC oil and introduces new ways for patients to use medical cannabis

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Georgia is taking a step forward in its medical cannabis program after lawmakers approved Senate Bill 220, also known as the ‘Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act’.

The legislation renames low THC oil to medical cannabis and expands access for patients across the state.

Lauren Niehaus, Executive Director of Government Relations for Trulieve Cannabis, says the change reflects years of effort to grow the program.

“We have been working very diligently to incrementally grow the program in Georgia to ensure that additional patients have access to medical cannabis in the state,” said Niehaus.

The bill also introduces vaporization as a new method for patients to use medical cannabis, which Niehaus says can provide faster relief.

“Patients are able to receive the effects of the medical cannabis a little bit more quickly than other methods of administration that are going through the bloodstream. You have patients such as those that have chemotherapy induced nausea, for example, and the onset time for a vaporization product is quicker than they would otherwise see relief,” she said.

Judson Hill, President of Fine Fettle, says the legislation also changes how medical cannabis is regulated by shifting the focus from THC percentages to specific dosages in the final product.

“THC oil never really made sense and no one really was able to understand what that percentage meant,” said Hill. “You don’t regulate medicine by the ingredient put in it, you should regulate medicine by the dosage in the finished product that the patient is taking”.

Hill says vaporization can also offer more immediate effects for patients with serious conditions.

“Inhalable products is really the best way to have an immediate efficacy, so when these people have severe and end of life conditions, you want to offer someone a product that helps them immediately not thirty minutes or an hour down the line,” he said.

The bill received bipartisan support and now heads to Governor Brian Kemp’s desk for signature.