Pubdate: Tue, 04 Mar 2014
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2014 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Aaron Gould Sheinin

HOUSE OKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

Georgia Children With Severe Seizure Disorder Are Closer to Treatment.

The Georgia House on Monday gave overwhelming approval to a bill that 
would legalize a type of medical marijuana to treat certain seizure disorders.

Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the sponsor of House Bill 885, said it's 
an important step toward saving the lives of children who can suffer 
100 or more seizures a day. The particular strain of marijuana, known 
as Charlotte's Web, has shown it can ease or eliminate symptoms of 
patients taking the cannabis oil derived from the plant.

In Colorado, where marijuana is legal, there is a waiting list of 
2,000 patients who want access to the oil, which does not cause the 
taker to get high.

While there are obstacles and some warn him he is moving too fast, 
Peake answered: "We cannot move fast enough."

The bill gained bipartisan support. Rep. Nikki Randall, D-Macon, said 
the bill is "a chance worth taking."

"If we can offer the slightest rise, the slightest improvement in the 
quality of life for these children, these families, I think we're 
doing the right thing," she said.

The bill passed 171-4 and now goes to the Senate.

The bill would allow cannabis oil produced at the University of 
Mississippi under an approved federal program and allow the state's 
research institutions to cultivate marijuana to produce the oil. 
Patients would have to go through a lengthy process to actually 
receive the oil, including screening by a state panel.

"It will provide the opportunity for families to make a personal 
choice in concert with their medical professional on what is in the 
best interest of their children," Peake said.

House Majority Leader Larry O'Neal, R-Bonaire, wanted assurances that 
marijuana imported would not end up in the hands of "criminal element 
or using it for nefarious reasons or 'hippie' reasons."

Peake said access to the product would be extremely limited but 
acknowledged more could be done in the bill to make sure.

Rep. Ben Watson, R-Savannah, a physician, is a co-sponsor who said he 
was won over by Peake and his own research. There are protections, he said.

"The safeguards put in this from academic research centers, the 
tightening up of the regulations to the law that exists already are 
pertinent and very important," Watson said. "Can we tighten them up 
some more? Certainly that may need to be the case."

Those suffering from these seizure disorders and other conditions 
have been failed by the federal government, Rep. B. J. Pak, 
R-Lilburn, said, which has failed to advance research on medical marijuana.

"The bureaucratic nightmare has ... stifled scientific innovation," 
said Pak, a former federal prosecutor.

That might be true, but there is important research that needs to be 
done, said Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-Marietta, the chairwoman of the 
House Health and Human Services Committee. "We can go through this 
whole process and then we could not get any research done" because of 
federal regulations, Cooper said. "If that's what's broken, let's 
work on correcting that." Still, Cooper voted for the bill.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom