Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2014
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2014 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Authors: Kristina Torres and Aaron Gould Sheinin
Page: B2

GA. TO STUDY MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Committee Will Look at Legalizing Limited Use.

Georgia lawmakers are moving ahead with plans to study the 
legalization of medical marijuana.

General Assembly leaders began this week to appoint committee members 
charged with making recommendations on the issue, after the state 
House and Senate failed to reach a compromise in the waning hours of 
this year's legislative session. State Rep. Allen Peake, RMacon, will 
lead the committee along with Senate Health and Human Services 
Chairwoman Renee Unterman, R-Buford.

The appointments come amid a flurry of announcements from the state 
Capitol over assignments to a number of panels. Some study committees 
spend state money to look into issues of debatable value, such as 
self-driving cars. Others will tackle serious issues, such as the 
state's controversial attempts to store water in underground aquifers.

In the House, Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, named lawmakers to 
panels that will study ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, as 
well as how the state compensates people who are wrongfully convicted 
of crimes.

Several joint House and Senate study committees have yet to be named, 
including ones that will study transportation issues and the Common 
Core education initiative.

Peake led the push earlier this year to legalize limited use of 
medical marijuana in Georgia. His legislation, House Bill 885, would 
allow Georgia families to use cannabis oil to treat certain seizure 
disorders in both children and adults, afflictions that can cause 
hundreds of seizures a day and often lead to death.

The oil is harvested from the marijuana plant but does not create the 
high that other forms of marijuana produce. The bill would have 
provided immunity from prosecution to anyone who was in possession of 
the particular cannabis oil the bill wants to make legal.

It also would have cleared the way for patients and their parents to 
travel outside of Georgia to find a supply, most likely in Colorado 
because it allows the oil's use in limited amounts.

HB 885 found support in both chambers, but failed when the Senate - 
led by Unterman - tied it to efforts requiring insurance companies to 
cover behavioral therapy for children 6 and under who have been 
diagnosed with autism.

The committee has not yet scheduled meeting dates, but is expected to 
issue a report by year's end.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom