The bill is a consumer-protection measure that does not intend to affect processors, who are already labeling and testing their products in a proper manner.
By Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder
The Senate has passed three bills that will change the way Georgia regulates medical marijuana and hemp. These votes are among the few in this session where the party divides were not clear. Senate Republicans disagreed on expanding access to medical cannabis, while members from both parties differed on new hemp regulations.
Medical cannabis
Senate Bill 220, also known as the “Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act,” passed in a contentious 39–17 vote after more than an hour of debate in the Senate. House Bill 227), its counterpart from the other chamber of the Georgia legislature, also replaces low-THC oils with medical cannabis in Georgia law. It removes restrictions on certain conditions like Parkinson’s or cancer being “severe” or “end stage” as well as adding lupus.
SB 220, unlike the House version of the bill, removes a prohibition on vaping cannabis oils and increases the maximum percentage THC in medical cannabis products from 5 to 50%.
On the floor, it was decided to add a clause allowing caregivers access to medical cannabis in pharmacies. A series of votes on the floor failed to pass three other amendments aimed reducing the THC content of medical cannabis and removing the vaping provision.
The Hemp Bill
On Crossover Day the Senate passed two bills that would strengthen hemp regulation in Georgia, limiting recreational marijuana use while simultaneously easing restrictions on medical cannabis.
Kay Kirkpatrick (R-Marietta) introduced SB 33, which would subject cannabinoids and chemical compounds, such as delta-8 and delta-10 THCA, to labeling and testing regulations. These were added under SB 494, last year. It passed in a 50–6 vote.
Kirkpatrick, in her remarks from the well, said that her bill is intended to cut down on hemp products unregulated from China or other countries.
Kirkpatrick explained that the bill was not intended to be a prohibition. This is a consumer bill, which does not intend to have an impact on processors already labeling and testing their products. The bill is intended to ensure that the consumers who buy these products know exactly what they are buying.
Senate Bill 254, introduced by Athens Republican Bill Cowsert in the Senate, seeks new limitations on THC-infused beverages after the Georgia Department of Agriculture increased the maximum THC content that can be added to one beverage from 5mg to 10mg.
Cowsert asked lawmakers to codify serving size limits of THC-infused beverage of up to 5mg. He called the high-dose drinks a “loaded gun” and said that a 10mg serving was equal to 4 glasses of wine.
“Most of the states have a very strict limit on how much THC can be added to a drink, in a lotion, in a tincture or in any other form of gummy,” said he. “And the reason is to protect consumers—protect the public—from the psychoactive components of THC.”
The bill, like SB 33 also includes restrictions on cannabinoid variations such as delta-8 THC or delta-10 THC. It was ultimately amended on the floor by a narrow 29–27 vote to ban all THC-infused beverages, and passed the Senate in a 42–14 vote.
Georgia Recorder published this article first.
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Mike Latimer provided the photo.