Claim: Georgia board starts work on medical marijuana rules .
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Cannabis in Georgia (U.S. state)
text: R-Fairburn, even told the widow that he'd recently given a constituent taking chemotherapy a recipe for marijuana-laced chocolate-chip cookies. Georgia's program had effectively ended without ever supplying a single patient with the medical marijuana promised. Subsequent Georgia governors had the authority to reappoint the board, but never acted. As a result, the law has lingered on the books for the last 30 years. A measure to allow medical cannabis oil up to 5% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) passed the Georgia House in February 2015. On April 16, 2015, the non-psychoactive form of marijuana oil (cannabidol oil or CBD oil) was legalized for

title: Cannabis in Georgia (U.S. state)
text: medical use in the state under HB 1, the "Haleigh’s Hope Act". The bill was immediately enacted after being signed by the Governor, Nathan Deal. The original bill allowed possession of the oil for eight qualifying medical conditions but did not provide for cultivation or distribution within the state. A May 2017 expansion under SB 16 added six more conditions. In 2018, HB 65 added intractable pain and PTSD. Several attempts to expand access to medical cannabis by providing for in-state cultivation were met with resistance from politicians and ultimately failed. Medical cannabis was not without precedent in Georgia; the

title: Cannabis in Georgia (U.S. state)
text: Cannabis in Georgia (U.S. state) Cannabis in Georgia is legal for limited medical uses in the form of CBD oil, but illegal for recreational use. In February 1980, a 50-0 Senate vote and a 156-8 House vote passed Mona Taft's bill supporting legal medical marijuana in Georgia for people diagnosed with glaucoma and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. Members from both parties came together to support Taft, including then-state Sen. Paul Broun. According to a Feb. 14, 1980, Knight-Ridder wire report about the bill, Broun hugged Taft when the legislation passed the Senate. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Virlyn Smith,

title: Initiative 59
text: District in 2013. Georgia Congressman Bob Barr advocated complete federal prohibition of medical marijuana. In 1998, he successfully blocked implementation of Initiative 59 – the "Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998" – which would have legalized medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. The "Barr Amendment" to the 1999 Omnibus spending bill not only blocked implementation of Initiative 59, but also prohibited the vote tally from even being released. Nearly a year passed before a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union eventually revealed the initiative had received 69 percent of the vote. In response to the judge's

title: Mary Fallin
text: new emergency rules adopted by the Oklahoma Board of Health to prohibit the sale of marijuana in smokeable form and to require that a pharmacist be on-site at dispensaries during operating hours. These regulations angered marijuana activists, drawing bipartisan opposition in the state and fueling renewed calls for a special session of the legislature. After state Attorney General Michael J. Hunter determined that the adoption of the two rules exceeded the statutory authority of the Board of Health, Fallin urged the board to rescind the rules. Fallin criticized proponents of State Question 788 for their support of a ballot measure

title: New Political Center — Girchi
text: or administrative sanction for consumption of marijuana. On July 30, 2018 the Constitutional Court of Georgia released a statement on the decision which was prompted by a lawsuit filed by leaders of the libertarian Girchi party, regarding the use of marijuana, effectively abolishing administrative punishment for the use of the drug. ""According to the applicants (Zurab Japaridze and Vakhtang Megrelishvili), the consumption of marijuana is not an act of social threat. In particular, it can only harm the users’ health, making that user him/herself responsible for the outcome. The responsibility for such actions does not cause dangerous consequences for the

title: Cannabis in Georgia (country)
text: over 100 people are drug tested by Georgian police daily. Following the 2006 strengthening of the drug laws, Georgia collected $11.3 million in drug-related fines in the first year. Beginning in 2013 there were calls from various advocacy groups and opposition politicians to decriminalize cannabis, but the government remained opposed. In October 2015, the Constitutional Court of Georgia ruled that the norm of the country's Constitution about imprisonment for personal use of cannabis was "too strict" and needed to be relaxed. In December 2016, the Court further declared that imprisonment for use of small amounts of cannabis, as well as

title: Cannabis in Georgia (country)
text: its purchase, retention, and production for personal use, was unconstitutional. On 30 July 2018, the Constitutional Court of Georgia ruled that "consumption of marijuana is an action protected by the right to free personality" and that "[Marijuana] can only harm the user's health, making that user him/herself responsible for the outcome. The responsibility for such actions does not cause dangerous consequences for the public." The ruling made legal the use and possession of cannabis in Georgia but kept in place penalties for cultivation and sale of the drug. Actions which also remain illegal include public consumption and use in the

title: Cannabis in Georgia (U.S. state)
text: state had conducted legal cannabis trials on cancer patients in the 1970s. In the 1970s and 1980s, a number of county sheriffs and deputies were prosecuted for their involvement in the drug trade, including Sheriff John David Davis, a former moonshiner who had been pardoned by President Nixon and was convicted in 1984 of smuggling cannabis into south Georgia. Davis' case parallels that of a number of other former moonshiners who segued into the cannabis trade. In 1983, amidst controversy, the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted aerial spraying of illegal cannabis plots in the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia, using

title: Marijuana Policy Project
text: making New York the 23rd medical marijuana state. The law's passage is the product of many years of work by legislative champions, patients, their loved ones, and advocacy organizations, including MPP, Compassionate Care NY, and the Drug Policy Alliance. The new law will protect certain seriously ill patients who use marijuana pursuant to their doctors’ advice from civil and criminal penalties. A number of modifications were made at the insistence of Gov. Cuomo. As a result, patients will not be allowed to smoke medical cannabis, the law will sunset after seven years, and there will be no more than five

title: 2016 Florida Amendment 2
text: that prices will be high, quality will be low, choices will be few, and patients will be driven to the black market". Florida Legislature passed, and Governor Rick Scott signed, a provision that defines "medical use" to exclude "possession, use or administration of marijuana in a form for smoking." Arguing that Florida state legislators violated voters' intent when they prohibited smoking for the medical use of marijuana, John Morgan, the Orlando trial lawyer who spearheaded and financed the successful campaign to make medical access to cannabis a constitutional right, filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court on July 6,

title: 2014 Florida Amendment 2
text: by a licensed physician. The amendment was introduced by People United for Medical Marijuana on March 26, 2009. As of 2014, twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have already passed legislation allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana thereby legalizing a patients possession and use. After the amendment failed, in 2016 a similar amendment passed. The ballot measure was expected to have a significant impact on the 2014 governor's race, as the state's governor will be elected the same day the measure is voted on and both leading candidates have directly opposing views on the issue. Gubernatorial

title: Cannabis in Oklahoma
text: days and begin licensing by August 25. 2018. The statewide regulator for marijuana is the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. As part of a larger trend nationwide to restrict cannabis, Oklahoma banned the drug in 1933. In 2014, Oklahomans for Health circulated a petition to get medical cannabis legalization on the ballot, but failed to gain sufficient signatures. In late 2015, Green the Vote announced that they were beginning a new petition drive to place medical legalization on the 2016 ballot. The initiative gathered the required number of signatures, but backers alleged that Attorney General Scott Pruitt had changed the verbiage

title: Washington Initiative 502
text: Kennedy have started Project SAM to promote what they call "smart approaches to marijuana." Initial draft rules were released on May 16, with the public comment period set to end on June 10, 2013. Public hearings shall begin in August for rules to become effective in September and first licenses expected in December 2013 or the following January. Consultants estimate $495 million in annual sales among 300 stores across all counties, the highest concentration being in King, Pierce and Thurston counties. The first two dozen retail licenses were issued for July 2014, but delays in licensing producers are anticipated to

title: Cannabis in Illinois
text: Services and the State Police. Neither department took action. The Illinois General Assembly passed the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act in 2013. The law legalizes the use of medical cannabis in tightly controlled circumstances. In August 2013, Governor Patrick Quinn signed into law the state's medical marijuana program, which would take effect on January 1. making it the 20th state to do so. "Legally registered patients" may, with a prescription from a medical caregiver, apply for an ID card that allows the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The law lists over 30 specific medical conditions that

title: Marijuana Policy Project
text: manufacturers — with a total of up to 20 locations — in the entire state. MPP continues work to improve the law. Ohio On June 8, 2016, Gov. John Kasich signed House Bill 523 into law, making Ohio the 25th state to adopt a workable medical marijuana law. The legislation, passed by the Ohio General Assembly the previous week, will allow seriously ill patients to use and purchase medical cannabis that will be cultivated and processed in-state. This legislation was a direct response to an initiative MPP funded and sought to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. Although the legislation

title: Cannabis in Minnesota
text: task force to conduct an impact assessment on medical cannabis therapeutic research and provides for certain criminal and civil protections for parties involved in the registry program. This passed the House 89–40 and the Senate 46–16. In May 2014 Governor Mark Dayton signed into law a bill legalizing marijuana for the treatment of nine severe medical conditions, including cancer, severe epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, glaucoma, Tourette's syndrome, ALS and Crohn's Disease. Registration for the program began on June 1, 2015, with actual distribution of medical marijuana beginning July 1, 2015. It is considered to be the most restrictive medical marijuana bill in

title: Cannabis in Georgia (country)
text: Cannabis in Georgia (country) Cannabis in Georgia is legal in terms of its possession and consumption due to a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Georgia on 30 July 2018. Cultivation and sale of cannabis remains illegal. Georgia illegally cultivates some small amounts of cannabis, mostly for local consumption. As of 2005, Georgia also served as a transit route for drugs coming from Central Asia, headed for Russia and Europe. Before Georgia legalized cannabis it had a strict anti-drug policy, under which offenders could have been jailed for up to 14 years. The advocacy group White Noise Movement states that

title: Cannabis in Georgia (country)
text: Cannabis in Georgia (country) Cannabis in Georgia is legal in terms of its possession and consumption due to a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Georgia on 30 July 2018. Cultivation and sale of cannabis remains illegal. Georgia illegally cultivates some small amounts of cannabis, mostly for local consumption. As of 2005, Georgia also served as a transit route for drugs coming from Central Asia, headed for Russia and Europe. Before Georgia legalized cannabis it had a strict anti-drug policy, under which offenders could have been jailed for up to 14 years. The advocacy group White Noise Movement states that

title: 2016 Florida Amendment 2
text: was available to newly qualified patients after July 1, 2017. According to a June 15, 2017 article reported by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), members of the Florida House and Senate have approved legislation to implement Amendment 2 on the final day of a special legislative session and Governor Rick Scott signed the bill into law. The measure prohibits patients from inhaling herbal preparations of cannabis, among other restrictions that proponents say violate the initiative's original intent. Orlando attorney John Morgan, and chairman for United For Care, a non-profit group for the legalization of medical