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.

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ATLANTA (AP) - Patients diagnosed with certain illnesses could take a form of medical marijuana under a plan that Georgia's state legislators backed Monday ahead of an important deadline that sorts out which bills go forward and which will likely fail for the year.

Legislative rules force Georgia's state lawmakers to get their bills approved by at least one chamber of the General Assembly by what's commonly called "Crossover Day," or else those bills are unlikely to get to the governor's desk. That rule can be bent, but it is difficult.

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There's no doubt that Georgia's law enforcement officials dislike strings that restrict civil asset forfeiture, which is the power of law enforcement to seize and keep property suspected of being involved in criminal activity. They've told state legislators that, time and again.

For the rest of Georgia, however, it's a problem.

Unlike with criminal asset forfeiture, under civil forfeiture the owner of the property being seized does not have to be charged with a crime. Cash, cars, homes and other property can be taken without even filing charges, let alone convicting the property's owner of a crime.

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Never in her life did Corey Lowe think her native Georgia would even consider allowing medical marijuana, but now she's hopeful that lawmakers have heard her pleas for a chance to help her improve her child's life with the drug.

The Holly Springs resident said she was ecstatic Wednesday after a bill allowing non-psychoactive cannabis oil to treat seizure patients got unanimous approval in a state House committee and moved one step closer to a vote on the floor.

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Medical marijuana bill offers hope but research requires much time

The medical marijuana bill approved by a state legislative committee is titled Haleigh's Hope Act, named for Haleigh Cox, a young girl with a condition that causes severe seizures.

"It's hope. That's all it is. Hope. That's what we're fighting for," said Corey Lowe, whose daughter Victoria, 12, suffers from mitochondrial disease that could wrack her body with up to 100 seizures a day if not controlled.

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ATLANTA - Tanya Smith, a Georgia police officer who oversees criminal investigations, is no stranger to battling the perils of drug abuse. Yet Smith's current fight is personal, in memory of her 20-year-old daughter, Taylor, who died last year while using drugs after no one called 911 for help.

Smith is among a group of parents lobbying on behalf of a bill that would grant amnesty from certain drug charges for those who seek help in the event of a drug overdose. Seventeen states have passed similar so-called "Good Samaritan laws," and proposals are pending this year in others including Georgia and West Virginia.

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After purchasing an Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper on Feb. 21, I read the opinion piece by sportswriter Jeff Schultz, "UGA's policy gets it right." Schultz was referring to the UGA athletic drug policy following the recent dismissal of a key defensive football player. His factual observations, negative feedback from football fans and comparisons with other university drug policies hit the nail on the head when distinguishing between winning at any cost versus the lives of young athletes.

Within this sports column, UGA Athletic Director Greg McGarity acknowledged that other SEC athletic directors had preliminary discussions about a conference-wide policy last year. McGarity further stated, "the issue got no traction with presidents."

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Local Legislators See Their Sponsored Bills Make It Over the Crossover Day Hump As Well.

(AP) - Patients diagnosed with certain illnesses could take a form of medical marijuana under a plan that Georgia's state legislators backed Monday, ahead of an important deadline that sorts out which bills go forward and which will likely fail for the year.

Legislative rules force lawmakers to get their bills approved by at least one chamber of the General Assembly by what's commonly called "Crossover Day." The rule can be bent, but it's difficult.

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A bill before the state Legislature that would legalize one form of medical marijuana for one group of patients passed an important hurdle on Wednesday. But not without undergoing some changes.

The House Health and Human Services Committee approved a bill by Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, that would allow a type of cannabis oil to be prescribed for severe seizure disorders. Parents of children with those disorders as well as physicians report dramatic improvements when the children have been treated with cannabis oil.

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The Bill Would Allow for Further Research into Treating Seizure Disorders.

Personal stories of frustration and lengthy deliberation led a state House committee to unanimously approve a bill that would permit medical marijuana to be grown and used in Georgia for treatment of severe seizure disorders.

Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, sits on the Health and Human Services Committee, which reviewed the legislation.

She said House Bill 885 provides a way to assist those who suffer from these complications - under tightly controlled restrictions.

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Gainesville will implement a zero-tolerance drug-testing policy beginning Saturday for public safety workers, with termination of employment the penalty for a single failed test.

But substance abuse specialists have concerns about how effective the policy will be in curbing drug addiction and whether firing workers will only lead to further abuse.

The city currently administers random drug tests for transit workers and other jobs that require a commercial driver's license. The new policy would be extended to include testing of police officers, firefighters, plant and equipment operators, lifeguards and other employees who operate city vehicles.

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GEORGIA LAWMAKERS haven't done much of anything this legislative session, which is not a bad thing.

Here's one humane measure, however, that deserves passage - a law that would allow limited use of medical marijuana to treat young Georgians suffering from horrific bouts of seizures.

First off, this isn't about legalizing pot.

The bill that's pending in the Georgia House won't make weed more available so stoners can fire up a joint and achieve a Rocky Mountain-type high, which is the case in Colorado.

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ATLANTA - A bill to allow a type of medical marijuana in Georgia under certain circumstances passed a key committee vote Wednesday, keeping it alive as a major legislative deadline looms.

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Allen Peake of Macon, House Bill 885 would revive a long-dormant research program allowing academic institutions to distribute marijuana to patients suffering from specific medical conditions.

The House Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill by a voice vote during Wednesday's meeting, prompting hugs and tears from families in the audience whose children suffer from medical conditions that can cause multiple daily seizures. The families believe, based on anecdotal evidence seen elsewhere, that a form of cannabis oil could reduce the seizures and improve their children's quality of life and have been lobbying lawmakers to support the effort.

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ATLANTA -- A bill that would legalize access to a cannabis-derived medicine in Georgia passed its first vote Wednesday, with a new provision for sourcing the illegal plant: in-state cannabis cultivation.

It passed via unanimous voice vote in the House Health and Human Services Committee on Wednesday night.

"We've tried to address the access problem that we clearly have by providing a cultivation option" at Georgia's five medical research universities, state Rep. Allen Peake, sponsor of House Bill 885, said of his hours-old edits.

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ATLANTA (AP) - A bill to allow a type of medical marijuana in Georgia under certain circumstances passed a key committee vote Wednesday, keeping it alive as a major legislative deadline looms.

Sponsored by Republican Rep. Allen Peake, of Macon, House Bill 885 would revive a long-dormant research program allowing academic institutions to distribute marijuana to patients suffering from specific medical conditions.

The House Health and Human Services Committee passed the bill by a voice vote during Wednesday's meeting, prompting hugs and tears from families in the audience whose children suffer from medical conditions that can cause multiple daily seizures. The families believe, based on anecdotal evidence seen elsewhere, that a form of cannabis oil could reduce the seizures and improve their children's quality of life and have been lobbying lawmakers to support the effort.

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It's all we hear: Let's legalize marijuana. What harm can it do? Marijuana legalization proponents are tugging on our heartstrings by highlighting how critical medical marijuana is for certain individuals. This seems like a new argument, but it's not.

Since the 1970s, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) has been supporting medical marijuana laws as the best strategy to achieve overall legalization of the drug. Their ploy has worked. Public support for legalization has increased. But there is more to the story than this. Don't be fooled by social media posts that discard concerns about the drug. These very vocal proponents of legalization are sharing their opinions, not facts.

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ATLANTA -- The hourglass is emptying fast for a medical marijuana bill that is not scheduled for a vote before a key deadline.

Meanwhile, though, another idea for medicine made with compounds found in marijuana might move faster than Georgia law.

House Bill 885 by state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, would legalize doctor-supervised use of a cannabis-derived liquid medicine for severe seizures.

It's had one hearing before the House Health and Human Services Committee, but no vote had been scheduled as of late Monday afternoon.

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Ayers' husband was killed by deputy during 2009 drug sting

A widowed Hall County woman has been awarded more than $2 million by a federal jury in a wrongful death suit.

Jurors on Thursday deemed $2.3 million in damages and expenses to Abigail Marilyn Ayers, wife of Jonathan Ayers, a Northeast Georgia pastor who was fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy in September 2009. The trial began last week at the Federal Court in Gainesville.

In causing Ayers' death, the defendant, Billy Shane Harrison, "intentionally committed acts that violated Jonathan Ayers' constitutional right not to be subjected to excessive or unreasonable force by a law enforcement officer," the jury determined by its verdict, according to court records.

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ACWORTH - One year after she buried her 23-year-old daughter, Teresa Turner is ready to share her family's story.

Blonde, outgoing and an accomplished athlete and student, Elizabeth Turner died from a heroin overdose Feb. 11, 2013, after years of struggling with a drug addiction.

Three weeks ago, her family started a website to spread the word about Elizabeth's death and resources for families dealing with drug addictions. As of Tuesday, more than 1 million people had visited the site and added their personal addiction stories.

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A federal jury awarded more than $2.3 million Thursday afternoon to the family of a Toccoa pastor shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy.

Jonathan Ayers, 28, was shot Sept. 1, 2009, in the parking lot of a Toccoa convenience store after inadvertently stepping into an undercover drug investigation. Ayers was the minister at Shoal Creek Baptist Church in Lavonia at the time of his death.

In December 2009, a grand jury decided the shooting was justified. Then in March 2010, Ayers' widow, Abigail Ayers, filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging excessive use of deadly force, assault, battery and false arrest against Deputy Billy Shane Harrison.

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