Legal Weed Coming To Georgia?

420 Warrior

Well-Known Member
The state's dormant medical marijuana program is primed for revival ... or maybe not

CAN I HELP YOU, BRAH? You may soon be able to get a patient reefer-al at your nearby pharmacy.

Georgia's long, complicated relationship with medical marijuana took an interesting turn recently as the government board that oversees medical policy for the state quietly began enlisting doctors to help select patients for pot therapy.

Wait, you didn't know Georgia had a relationship with ganga? Well, old-timers should recall that, back in 1976, ex-Gov. Jimmy Carter campaigned for president with a pledge to decriminalize marijuana use. "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself," Carter told Congress after being elected. "Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."

And it just so happens that another of our state's favorite sons, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, co-authored the nation's very first bill to legalize marijuana as an, um, herbal remedy.

"We believe licensed physicians are competent to employ marijuana, and patients have a right to obtain marijuana legally, under medical supervision, from a regulated source," the then-congressman wrote in a 1981 letter that ran in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Man, what was he smoking?

Also in 1981, the Georgia Legislature passed the "Medical Marijuana Necessities Act," which mandated the creation of a state-run program through which qualified cancer and glaucoma patients would receive prescriptions of cannabis sativa.

So, what happened? Long story short, Reagan happened. The groovy '70s gave way to the uptight '80s, the DEA went on a hiring binge, "drug czar" became a recognizable job title and the entire nation got its buzz harshed.

Back in Georgia, the newly formed Patient Qualification Review Board, a state-appointed panel of physicians tasked with choosing which cancer patients could get stoned, was defunded and disbanded after approving only a small handful of test subjects whose names are lost to history.

Legislators even went back and changed the name of the 1981 law to the "Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act" to downplay the connection to reefer and make it sound less fun.

The law, however, has remained on the state's books, meaning, theoretically, that qualified patients could enroll in clinical medical marijuana trials.

Except that, without an active Patient Qualification Review Board, no one could be qualified as a patient. And without qualified patients, there was no need for any treatment.

In the 30 years since the passage of the pioneering Georgia law, 16 other states and the District of Columbia have allowed private medical marijuana dispensaries to pop up, most recently Colorado, no one's idea of a blue state.

And public sentiment regarding the use of medical marijuana has similarly shifted. In 2009, President Obama pledged that the federal government wouldn't interfere with programs set up by individual states.

And even ex-Congressman Bob Barr, once a major anti-weed crusader, has come out in favor of medical marijuana.

Back in Georgia, the legalization charge has been led by longtime pot activist Paul Cornwell, who has spent the last few years reminding the state medical board, a division of the Department of Community Health, that it's compelled by the 1981 law to reinstate the PQRB and resume the clinical trials begun three decades ago.

"Anyone who has a grandmother or friend wasting away from cancer or AIDS because they can't keep food down should favor compassionate relief," Cornwell explains.

Recently, he got his wish. On March 24, the state medical board oh-so-quietly issued a call for applicants, five doctors in various fields and one pharmacist, to be named to a reformed PQRB. Once that body is in place, perhaps within six months, Cornwell predicts that opening the door officially to widespread use of medical marijuana will be a no-brainer.

"Once the board reviews the past 30 years of studies that have been done, we'd expect them to recommend allowing medical marijuana to be used for a variety of ailments," he says.

But don't break out the roach clip just yet. There are mountains of hurdles standing in the way of that first toke, not the least of which is the original 1981 law itself, which requires that the pot be distributed by licensed pharmacies rather than through private dispensaries, as in other states. So, where is the neighborhood CVS going to get Maui Wowie?

"We're working on finding that information," says LaSharn Hughes, executive director of the state medical board. "We couldn't get it from a street grower or anything like that.

The state Attorney General's office said we'd have to do something with the National Cancer Institute or some government entity. But I don't know yet."

And how would patients be selected? How would the dosages be administered? And how long should the trials continue before the PQRB is expected to issue a recommendation? Again, no one's certain.

"To be honest, I don't know much more than LaSharn does," explains Alexander Gross, chairman of the state medical board. "I've read the act and she's read the act, and basically the first thing we have to do is seat members for this review board.

Then the review board will have to do some rules writing. Once all that gets done, then we can start looking at protocol."

But David Clark, a Gwinnett lawyer and former executive director of the Georgia NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), doesn't believe the powers that be will allow the program to move forward as Cornwell hopes.

"During the 20 years I've been practicing, that law has been meaningless; it's never allowed a gram of medical marijuana, not a single joint to be distributed in Georgia," he says. "Maybe someone's getting some money to be on the board or something, but not one person is going to see a gram of medical marijuana distributed in Georgia."

Instead, he says, NORML is concentrating its efforts on working with lawmakers to ease prosecution for small quantities of pot.

Speaking of lawmakers, has Cornwell considered that Georgia's decidedly right-wing state Legislature is likely to freak out once it catches wind of what the state medical board is doing? After all, this is a state where it took years of fighting just to pass a bill to allow us to buy beer on Sundays.

"If the General Assembly tried to overturn the law and derail the medical marijuana program, that's the best thing that could happen," Cornwell says. "Polls show that the voting public overwhelmingly supports marijuana for treatment of serious illness."

If it's a showdown he wants, it's a good bet he won't be disappointed!

news_featureW.jpg


News Hawk - 420 Warrior 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Creative Loafing Atlanta
Author: Scott Henry
Contact: posting.clatl.com/ContactUs
Copyright: © 2012 Creative Loafing Atlanta
Website: clatl.com
 
Ok then...I guess we had MMJ laws on the books, way before all the other states had it?

I just want to know, where is the dispensary? Where do I get MY MMJ card? What Doctor do I need to visit to get my medicine? What the hell?!!!

If you've read this and didn't get totally pissed off about it, then you should go back and read it again because this is living proof of how manipulative and conniving the government in this state really is!

I mean, not one single cancer, AIDS, Chronic pain or Clinically depressed patient in Georgia has ever seen the benefits of Cannabis...NOT ONE!!!

And we've had a law on our books since the 1981?

My God, why has thaw forsaken us in the "Bible Belt"?!!!!

PLEASE LORD, HELP US HERE IN GEORGIA?!!!
 
The bad thing is, Georgia has these law's, and still to this day, never has MMJ been prescribed.

Yep, and the rabbit hole goes way deep with it too! ;)

Not only have they never given it to anyone but a small hand full of people but they have kept this from even surfacing in our state.

I mean, really, I have lived here 42 years now and have never even heard that their was even a law like this before.

We've been deceived and lied to for so long here, that everyone here is totally oblivious to the fact that their even is a law in the books for MMJ here...am I right GT? You ever heard of this before? I haven't!

Personally, I'd like to know where you would even go to get it from in the first place if you even could get a recommendation for MMJ here in Georgia?

We should really do some research to find out what can be done to resurface and amend this law for a wider range of ailments.

We should also contact our local media and get them talking about it on a regular basis.

We also need to draw up a petition here in GA and get those signatures for our lawmakers to have to reopen the books on this.

Another thing we might look into is waking Jimmy Carter's old butt up and get him talking about this again and helping the people of Georgia out again.

All of these things will take a collective effort by EVERYONE!

All in favor say "HIGH"
 
Thanks my brother this was a great read, totally and unbelievably sad for all citizens in the Great State of Georgia to punish it's most vulnerable among them, the infirm. MMJ Must become legal in ALL States!! The mentality of "well we got it, so move here" is just not good for folks who are unable to relocate thousands of miles, uprooting children and family just to be legal in an MMJ State to hear this anymore. We as citizens of The UNITED States must band together (especially those in MMJ States) and testify, start petitions, donate money, and just plain help get MMJ on the Ballot in ALL of these UNITED States. If there is ever anything I could do or say as a Patient that would advance MMJ in the great State of Georgia, Tennesee, or Mars I would be there with bells on. Keep it up 420Warrior and we will get there someday!!
:party::loopy::theband::tommy:
Great story +Rep!!

there are NO Dispensaries in RI, VT, NJ, DE, DC, MD, and AK
 
If you've read this and didn't get totally pissed off about it, then you should go back and read it again because this is living proof of how manipulative and conniving the government in this state really is!

I read it and got "totally pissed off" about it. It only took one reading.

Of course, the entity that I'm most pissed off about is the so-called news reporter, Scott Henry, who wrote this bit of garbage and in so doing, maligned the image of those who use cannabis for medicinal purposes. I can only hope that Mr. Henry is not a member here - for if he is, I will be breaking the site guidelines when I state that Scott Henry is an utter douche-bag who in his thin disguise as an impartial news reporter has laced his story with sensationalist language. I take it that the rag that he writes for (Creative Loafing Atlanta) is closer to the National Enquirer in scope & stature than a publication that is actually concerned with impartially presenting the news.

I'll start with the title of the article: Legal Weed Coming to Georgia? About the only time I hear it referred to as "weed" is when the other side is vilifying its image (although I've occasionally passed kids on the street who were heard to use the term).

And then there's the picture of a pharmacist standing in a pharmacy with a "Got Weed?" t-shirt.

CAN I HELP YOU, BRAH? You may soon be able to get a patient reefer-al at your nearby pharmacy.

The inference that a "stoner" will be in charge of your medicinal cannabis. Also, alluding to the term "reefer," a term that I don't believe I ever heard anyone actually use. Oh, wait a minute! There was a movie produced some decades ago that used the term in its title. This reporter and his story reminds me of that movie. That is not a good thing.

Wait, you didn't know Georgia had a relationship with ganga?

And it just so happens that another of our state's favorite sons, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, co-authored the nation's very first bill to legalize marijuana as an, um, herbal remedy.

It's not "an, um," anything. It is what it is.

Man, what was he smoking?

The groovy '70s gave way to the uptight '80s, the DEA went on a hiring binge, "drug czar" became a recognizable job title and the entire nation got its buzz harshed.

This entire sentence is provocative. I'm sure that people who have long been campaigning for the right to use cannabis medicinally (and who have been suffering for not having that right) really appreciate knowing that they have been thwarted because their "buzz was harshed" and that if we could all be "groovy" everything would be fine.

Back in Georgia, the newly formed Patient Qualification Review Board, a state-appointed panel of physicians tasked with choosing which cancer patients could get stoned, was defunded and disbanded after approving only a small handful of test subjects whose names are lost to history.

Oh, and thanks, by the way, for that one in particular. Having seen - and seeing it currently, in fact - family and friends waste away and die after a great deal of pain & suffering from both the illness and the "legally approved" treatments, I was under the apparently mistaken impression that said people were hoping to use cannabis to help them alleviate - or at least, manage - their pain, to help create an appetite, to get through the oft-times agony involved with the process of eating, to help them keep that food down once they manage to consume it, and to otherwise help them deal with the physical, mental and emotional impacts of their illness and the additional problems that they suffer when taking chemotherapy.

But thanks to this cracker-jack "reporter," I learn that they just want to get stoned.

Legislators even went back and changed the name of the 1981 law to the "Controlled Substances Therapeutic Research Act" to downplay the connection to reefer and make it sound less fun.

If I ever find myself in Georgia, I hope that someone will loan me bail money after I have words with this moral slug. I know how the conversation will turn out. It will almost certainly involve an axe.

And even ex-Congressman Bob Barr, once a major anti-weed crusader, has come out in favor of medical marijuana.

Back in Georgia, the legalization charge has been led by longtime pot activist Paul Cornwell,

But don't break out the roach clip just yet. There are mountains of hurdles standing in the way of that first toke, not the least of which is the original 1981 law itself, which requires that the pot be distributed by licensed pharmacies rather than through private dispensaries, as in other states. So, where is the neighborhood CVS going to get Maui Wowie?

Huh. Is this a news report produced after researching the facts... Or did the guy write it while he was watching a Cheech & Chong movie?

A quick read of the comments posted (on the source website) in response to his story shows me that I'm not alone in feeling this way. It also shows that he missed more than he hit in his search for relevant facts. Finally, it shows that some organizations are actively working in the state of Georgia - thankfully so, because if this story is anything to go by, the press in GA sure isn't helping.

[/RANT]
 
Thanks my brother this was a great read, totally and unbelievably sad for all citizens in the Great State of Georgia to punish it's most vulnerable among them, the infirm. MMJ Must become legal in ALL States!! The mentality of "well we got it, so move here" is just not good for folks who are unable to relocate thousands of miles, uprooting children and family just to be legal in an MMJ State to hear this anymore. We as citizens of The UNITED States must band together (especially those in MMJ States) and testify, start petitions, donate money, and just plain help get MMJ on the Ballot in ALL of these UNITED States. If there is ever anything I could do or say as a Patient that would advance MMJ in the great State of Georgia, Tennesee, or Mars I would be there with bells on. Keep it up 420Warrior and we will get there someday!!
:party::loopy::theband::tommy:
Great story +Rep!!

there are NO Dispensaries in RI, VT, NJ, DE, DC, MD, and AK

I agree with you but in some instances where the quality of life is severely diminished the patient has no choice but to seek out arrangements to move to another state because the laws are open to MMj. The big problem then is the relocation itself. I mean here you have a patient that is so sick they can barely get to the bathroom and are now embarking on a long trip across the country. It is truly sad that someone who's life has been a seething unmitigated hell, suffers through endless hardships and pain, now has to be relocated and deal with all of the little horrors that go along with it including the financial nightmare it causes just so that they can acquire the medication they need. That is why I am so motivated to get this medicine reclassified and into the hands of those who not only have a prescription for it but also those who just like to get high! :thanks:
 
Thanks my brother this was a great read, totally and unbelievably sad for all citizens in the Great State of Georgia to punish it's most vulnerable among them, the infirm. MMJ Must become legal in ALL States!! The mentality of "well we got it, so move here" is just not good for folks who are unable to relocate thousands of miles, uprooting children and family just to be legal in an MMJ State to hear this anymore. We as citizens of The UNITED States must band together (especially those in MMJ States) and testify, start petitions, donate money, and just plain help get MMJ on the Ballot in ALL of these UNITED States. If there is ever anything I could do or say as a Patient that would advance MMJ in the great State of Georgia, Tennesee, or Mars I would be there with bells on. Keep it up 420Warrior and we will get there someday!!

Ok, wow! now this guy really 420% gets it!!! Good on my friend and reps coning your way fosho!...:adore:

Believe me when I say how much this means to all of us here, but the real problem here is that people are so brow beaten into submission by law enforcement that people honestly think their is absolutely no snowballs chance in hell we can ever get their and people are just plane too scared to even try without repercussions and that my friend, is the sad part bro, truly sad!

Now all that being said, I would say it's a solid 90.00% of everyone I have ever met here in Georgia that really wants Cannabis to be legalized, for adults only and sold, like alcohol and tobacco. ;) The other 10% are devout hard line holey rollers that are the ones who are crashing the party and what the real road block is here in the south.

How do I know this?, You ask?...Because I married into a family just like this and actually joined their church and saw for my self first hand what is on these peoples minds, which is that, we are not supposed to live our own lives the way we personally see fit but more like we are just sheep that are just supposed to fall in line and be seated in those isles every Sunday morning/night and Wednesday nights at all cost, to here more propaganda and lies about our "pot head" ways...which, by the way, I feel is offensive to be called!

I long for a day here in Ole Dixie, to be called a "Medial Cannabis patient"...Is this so much to ask? Or even better, "An, of age smoker of Marijuana"!!! Why the heck not? What, really are we hurting anyway? I say it's our time and our world now and all we have to do is prove to everyone that this really can happen if we just ALL show some interest in getting involved!

Now, this is just preaching to the quire here at our beloved site, but it's the recluse smokers that are the ones we need to inform that there really is a movement out there and what we need to find is a way to reach out and win their confidence back and get them active on this idea again...make sense?

How we do this is what I mentioned in my earlier post, which means getting our message clearly heard and confirmed!

Anyone see or know of a better way? I'm all ears?
 
I read it and got "totally pissed off" about it. It only took one reading.

Of course, the entity that I'm most pissed off about is the so-called news reporter, Scott Henry, who wrote this bit of garbage and in so doing, maligned the image of those who use cannabis for medicinal purposes. I can only hope that Mr. Henry is not a member here - for if he is, I will be breaking the site guidelines when I state that Scott Henry is an utter douche-bag who in his thin disguise as an impartial news reporter has laced his story with sensationalist language. I take it that the rag that he writes for (Creative Loafing Atlanta) is closer to the National Enquirer in scope & stature than a publication that is actually concerned with impartially presenting the news.

I'll start with the title of the article: Legal Weed Coming to Georgia? About the only time I hear it referred to as "weed" is when the other side is vilifying its image (although I've occasionally passed kids on the street who were heard to use the term).

And then there's the picture of a pharmacist standing in a pharmacy with a "Got Weed?" t-shirt.



The inference that a "stoner" will be in charge of your medicinal cannabis. Also, alluding to the term "reefer," a term that I don't believe I ever heard anyone actually use. Oh, wait a minute! There was a movie produced some decades ago that used the term in its title. This reporter and his story reminds me of that movie. That is not a good thing.





It's not "an, um," anything. It is what it is.





This entire sentence is provocative. I'm sure that people who have long been campaigning for the right to use cannabis medicinally (and who have been suffering for not having that right) really appreciate knowing that they have been thwarted because their "buzz was harshed" and that if we could all be "groovy" everything would be fine.



Oh, and thanks, by the way, for that one in particular. Having seen - and seeing it currently, in fact - family and friends waste away and die after a great deal of pain & suffering from both the illness and the "legally approved" treatments, I was under the apparently mistaken impression that said people were hoping to use cannabis to help them alleviate - or at least, manage - their pain, to help create an appetite, to get through the oft-times agony involved with the process of eating, to help them keep that food down once they manage to consume it, and to otherwise help them deal with the physical, mental and emotional impacts of their illness and the additional problems that they suffer when taking chemotherapy.

But thanks to this cracker-jack "reporter," I learn that they just want to get stoned.



If I ever find myself in Georgia, I hope that someone will loan me bail money after I have words with this moral slug. I know how the conversation will turn out. It will almost certainly involve an axe.







Huh. Is this a news report produced after researching the facts... Or did the guy write it while he was watching a Cheech & Chong movie?

A quick read of the comments posted (on the source website) in response to his story shows me that I'm not alone in feeling this way. It also shows that he missed more than he hit in his search for relevant facts. Finally, it shows that some organizations are actively working in the state of Georgia - thankfully so, because if this story is anything to go by, the press in GA sure isn't helping.

[/RANT]

Hit right on the nail TS!!! and +420 x 420 more reps to you my good friend! ;)

That's right bro, and that's exactly what our media cast us to be!

We are not even worth mentioning here and the only time "Pot" is mentioned, is when it's being made out to be like a person using Cannabis is a total "menace to society" or a "criminal element" and this mentality is where ALL of my passion is derived from...Can Y'all blame me? I can and always have been able to see right through this ploy to create "reefer madness" here in my part of the world on mass media scale...for sure!!! And, it ain't right!...IT AIN'T!!!

Burns my bacon!...as we say!
 
I agree with you but in some instances where the quality of life is severely diminished the patient has no choice but to seek out arrangements to move to another state because the laws are open to MMj. The big problem then is the relocation itself. I mean here you have a patient that is so sick they can barely get to the bathroom and are now embarking on a long trip across the country. It is truly sad that someone who's life has been a seething unmitigated hell, suffers through endless hardships and pain, now has to be relocated and deal with all of the little horrors that go along with it including the financial nightmare it causes just so that they can acquire the medication they need. That is why I am so motivated to get this medicine reclassified and into the hands of those who not only have a prescription for it but also those who just like to get high! :thanks:

Honestly, Lord Indica...I really do have the energy and the self reliance to move to a MMJ state but I really just don't want to, when I should be here and in the fight, when there are so few of us to do it.

I just want to be here, so that when people do start getting involved, I will be there to lead them to the path because...If not me? Then who?

Who else, other than people like myself, who are really passionate about it, are going to be here when the fit really starts hitting the shan?

I owe it to my fellow Georgians to be here to teach these reclusive people about stuff like this artillery piece I have posted right here... Wouldn't you think?

And if you think people will uproot and leave ole glory to go to a state where people will not even understand what being southern really means then please don't kid your self because we are totally proud of our heritage and moving is really out of the question for most of us.

Being a southerner is a badge of honor for the ones who have deep seeded roots here and all the hundreds of thousands of out of stater's that have inundated this region in the past decade or longer, still don't understand this state of mind that real Georgians have known all of our lives...and that's the truth of it my friend...We absolutely love our state and will not surrender it lightly...We just want Cannabis legalized, so that we will have the best of both worlds and that's the jest of it...We want freedom!!!
 
Now that is wisdom, and tha TRUTH!!!

Good sermon GT? Preach on brother, tell-em with me bro...you see it too, I know that!

You guys just don't know how very proud I am to see y'all getting in with me for this push...It's been my dream for so long now that I almost started giving up on it from the lack of interest being shown in past years, but this is the first step to our goal, and your interest just reaffirms my quest as being valid and much needed...y'all feel me?

The 420 Warrior is on the job! Thanks guys and all my love. :Namaste:
 
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