Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
The Georgia Composite Medical Board will begin drafting the physician certification form and patient waiver used for patients who are seeking treatment with cannabidiol oil, following Friday's executive order issued by Gov. Nathan Deal.
The executive order directs state agencies to take actions to prepare for the implementation of House Bill 1, which was passed by the Georgia General Assembly this week. The bill makes it legal for Georgians with certain conditions to posses oil containing cannabidiol and THC, constituents of marijuana. The oil will not be produced in Georgia, but Georgians who obtain it legally from other states will be legally able to possess and use up to 20 ounces of the oil, if they follow the requirements of the law.
Draft certification and patient waiver forms will be presented to the board at its April 2 meeting, according to a release issued by the Georgia Composite Medical Board on Friday.
Members of the board will coordinate their efforts with the Georgia Department of Public Health, which will be responsible for maintaining the Low THC Oil Patient Registry.
Georgians with qualifying conditions can request that their doctors certify them as needing access to CBD oil. That certification will make the patients eligible for a registration card from the Low THC Oil Patient Registry.
Before anyone can obtain a registration card, a waiver must be signed. The waiver states that the patient or caregiver understands that the oil is not approved by the FDA and could be harmful.
The Georgia Composite Medical Board will "issue additional information after the April 2 board meeting," according to the press release. The board is responsible for licensing physicians to practice in Georgia, and investigating complaints and malpractice settlements.
It had originally been announced that Deal would sign the bill Friday, but the signing was postponed until after the legislative session ends next week.
"Sometimes, as we review bills after the session is concluded, we find that there are conflicting provisions in one place that may override or in some cases totally cancel out provisions of other bills," Deal said. "We do not want to take the chance that that can happen."
Instead, "it will be signed in the normal process after the session is concluded."
"But we did not want to wait on the procedure side of it. ... This executive order will allow to proceed immediately."
Currently, 23 states have "full blown" medical marijuana, while 12 states have laws that permit the use of CBD oil. However, those 12 states only allow the oil to be used for seizure disorders.
Georgia will become the first in the country to allow the oil, which can contain up to 5 percent THC, to be used for multiple conditions.
HB 1 creates a "hybrid model," said Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the author of the bill. "I believe this is kind of unique step in the country."
HB 1 is known as the "Haleigh's Hope Act," after Haleigh Cox, a constituent of Peake who suffered from multiple seizures every day. Haleigh and her mother, Janea, moved to Colorado to seek treatment, but returned for Friday's announcement.
"This means the world to us," Janea Cox said. "It has been extremely hard on our family" to be separated.
The oil has "done wonders" for Haleigh, she said. She went from having 200 seizures a day and being on her death bed to now going many days without a seizure.
"She's a smiling happy girl who says words now and looks us in the eye. It just means the world to us. It's indescribable," Cox said.
Cox said that "a lot of companies in Colorado have stated that they should be able to ship" the CBD oil to Georgia. That means she won't have to risk federal prosecution by bringing the oil from Colorado.
"If I had to break federal law I would do it — if they want to come get us, come get us. But we're going to continue to do it," she said.
"I think we're all in agreement that cultivation is our next big step. We're going to look to Gov. Deal and hopefully he'll be able to help with that. Cultivation makes this a working bill, so we don't have to go out of state to get the medicine. We can watch the medicine being made" and regulate it here, she said.
Part of HB 1 is the requirement that a committee be set up to study the best way to produce CBD oil in Georgia. The committee must make a recommendation by Dec. 31.
Deal said there have already been talks with law enforcement, so that law enforcement officials will understand that possession is authorized.
Conditions eligible to be treated with the oil are epilepsy/seizure disorders, mitochondrial disease, Crohn's Disease, and severe or end-stage cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease and sickle cell disease.
Seventeen Georgia families moved to Colorado to seek treatment, Peake said. They include Maggie Callaway and her mother, Beth, of Coweta. The children of two of those families have passed away, and one family has returned for other reasons, he said.
In Georgia, there are approximately 150,000 people with epilepsy, 300,000 people with cancer, and about 50,000 people with the other conditions, who could benefit from the oil, Peake said.
Mike Hopkins and his family moved to Colorado to seek treatment for his daughter. Two of Hopkins' children have died in the past year from their seizure disorders, before the move to Colorado.
"We never moved just for us. It was about all the other children and people that could have improved quality of life," Hopkins said. "It has been a tough year. Honestly, I have not had a chance to grieve my children."
"This is a first step," he said. "We've got a long way to go and I think there's a lot of positive results and I think part of the problem and part of the process has been education, and we've got a lot of educating to do."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Deal directs agencies to prepare for HB 1 approval - The Newnan Times-Herald
Author: Sarah fay Campbell
Contact: sarah@newnan.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Newnan Times-Herald
The executive order directs state agencies to take actions to prepare for the implementation of House Bill 1, which was passed by the Georgia General Assembly this week. The bill makes it legal for Georgians with certain conditions to posses oil containing cannabidiol and THC, constituents of marijuana. The oil will not be produced in Georgia, but Georgians who obtain it legally from other states will be legally able to possess and use up to 20 ounces of the oil, if they follow the requirements of the law.
Draft certification and patient waiver forms will be presented to the board at its April 2 meeting, according to a release issued by the Georgia Composite Medical Board on Friday.
Members of the board will coordinate their efforts with the Georgia Department of Public Health, which will be responsible for maintaining the Low THC Oil Patient Registry.
Georgians with qualifying conditions can request that their doctors certify them as needing access to CBD oil. That certification will make the patients eligible for a registration card from the Low THC Oil Patient Registry.
Before anyone can obtain a registration card, a waiver must be signed. The waiver states that the patient or caregiver understands that the oil is not approved by the FDA and could be harmful.
The Georgia Composite Medical Board will "issue additional information after the April 2 board meeting," according to the press release. The board is responsible for licensing physicians to practice in Georgia, and investigating complaints and malpractice settlements.
It had originally been announced that Deal would sign the bill Friday, but the signing was postponed until after the legislative session ends next week.
"Sometimes, as we review bills after the session is concluded, we find that there are conflicting provisions in one place that may override or in some cases totally cancel out provisions of other bills," Deal said. "We do not want to take the chance that that can happen."
Instead, "it will be signed in the normal process after the session is concluded."
"But we did not want to wait on the procedure side of it. ... This executive order will allow to proceed immediately."
Currently, 23 states have "full blown" medical marijuana, while 12 states have laws that permit the use of CBD oil. However, those 12 states only allow the oil to be used for seizure disorders.
Georgia will become the first in the country to allow the oil, which can contain up to 5 percent THC, to be used for multiple conditions.
HB 1 creates a "hybrid model," said Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, the author of the bill. "I believe this is kind of unique step in the country."
HB 1 is known as the "Haleigh's Hope Act," after Haleigh Cox, a constituent of Peake who suffered from multiple seizures every day. Haleigh and her mother, Janea, moved to Colorado to seek treatment, but returned for Friday's announcement.
"This means the world to us," Janea Cox said. "It has been extremely hard on our family" to be separated.
The oil has "done wonders" for Haleigh, she said. She went from having 200 seizures a day and being on her death bed to now going many days without a seizure.
"She's a smiling happy girl who says words now and looks us in the eye. It just means the world to us. It's indescribable," Cox said.
Cox said that "a lot of companies in Colorado have stated that they should be able to ship" the CBD oil to Georgia. That means she won't have to risk federal prosecution by bringing the oil from Colorado.
"If I had to break federal law I would do it — if they want to come get us, come get us. But we're going to continue to do it," she said.
"I think we're all in agreement that cultivation is our next big step. We're going to look to Gov. Deal and hopefully he'll be able to help with that. Cultivation makes this a working bill, so we don't have to go out of state to get the medicine. We can watch the medicine being made" and regulate it here, she said.
Part of HB 1 is the requirement that a committee be set up to study the best way to produce CBD oil in Georgia. The committee must make a recommendation by Dec. 31.
Deal said there have already been talks with law enforcement, so that law enforcement officials will understand that possession is authorized.
Conditions eligible to be treated with the oil are epilepsy/seizure disorders, mitochondrial disease, Crohn's Disease, and severe or end-stage cancer, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease and sickle cell disease.
Seventeen Georgia families moved to Colorado to seek treatment, Peake said. They include Maggie Callaway and her mother, Beth, of Coweta. The children of two of those families have passed away, and one family has returned for other reasons, he said.
In Georgia, there are approximately 150,000 people with epilepsy, 300,000 people with cancer, and about 50,000 people with the other conditions, who could benefit from the oil, Peake said.
Mike Hopkins and his family moved to Colorado to seek treatment for his daughter. Two of Hopkins' children have died in the past year from their seizure disorders, before the move to Colorado.
"We never moved just for us. It was about all the other children and people that could have improved quality of life," Hopkins said. "It has been a tough year. Honestly, I have not had a chance to grieve my children."
"This is a first step," he said. "We've got a long way to go and I think there's a lot of positive results and I think part of the problem and part of the process has been education, and we've got a lot of educating to do."
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Deal directs agencies to prepare for HB 1 approval - The Newnan Times-Herald
Author: Sarah fay Campbell
Contact: sarah@newnan.com
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Newnan Times-Herald
