The push by hundreds of needy parents and by one lawmaker to bring in-state cultivation to Georgia is now dead in the water. State Representative Allen Peake, who has spent the last two years fighting to expand cannabis use and access for families in Georgia, says the majority of House Bill 722 to allow in-state growing, will not move forward as planned.

The bill would have allowed up to six companies to be licensed to grow – under strict state regulation – marijuana for the purposes of producing cannabis oil.

Chairman Rich Golick of the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee said it just was not an bill that would pass the Senate and be signed by the Governor.

Since the start of the legislative session, Governor Deal has voiced his opposition to in-state growing saying law enforcement agencies oppose it. His critics complain, however, because Deal signed Haleigh’s HOPE Act in 2015 which allows possession of medical cannabis oil up to a certain amount inside state lines. The problem is that it is a federal crime to carry the oil across state lines, something Representative Peake had admitted to doing to help affected families. Deal has said repeatedly that ‘Georgia is not ready’ for in-state growing.

While AIDS/HIV made a new, expanded list of affected illnesses and diseases, it is expected that autism will be removed in the Senate; PTSD has already been removed by the House.

(www.allongeorgia.com)