HB440: HB440 Providing Effective Access to Cannabis for Health (PEACH) Act; enact

Georgia currently regulates a narrow medical marijuana product called 'low THC oil' through a patient registry, a state commission, and specific criminal penalty thresholds measured in fluid ounces. HB 440 replaces that term throughout the Code with 'medical cannabis' and redefines it more broadly to include the cannabis plant and its derivatives, not just an oil under 5 percent THC. It resets the possession limits: 2.5 ounces or less is legal for registered patients, amounts between 2.5 and 20 ounces become a felony, and 20 ounces or more is trafficking with tiered prison terms and fines up to $1 million. The bill also repeals the separate legal pathway for university clinical research participants, eliminates the current ban on certain methods of ingesting the product (Code Section 16-12-234), clarifies that lawfully possessed medical cannabis is excluded from the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, and adds several new qualifying medical conditions to the patient registry, including Alzheimer's disease, lupus, mitochondrial disease, epidermolysis bullosa, AIDS, peripheral neuropathy, and intractable pain. It keeps the existing distance rules requiring licensees to stay away from schools, churches, and early childhood programs.

• Replaces the term 'low THC oil' with 'medical cannabis' across dozens of Georgia Code sections, broadening the legal definition to cover more forms of the cannabis plant and its derivatives.
• Rewrites the possession thresholds from fluid ounces to ounces, setting 2.5 ounces or less as lawful for registered patients and raising the felony and trafficking cutoffs to 2.5 ounces and 20 ounces respectively.
• Repeals the separate exemption for university clinical research program participants under former subsection (b) of Code Section 16-12-191.
• Repeals Code Section 16-12-234, which currently bans certain methods of ingesting the product, removing that restriction entirely.
• Excludes lawfully possessed medical cannabis and products from the definition of marijuana and from Schedule I of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act (O.C.G.A. § 16-13-21 and § 16-13-25).
• Expands the list of medical conditions that qualify a patient for a registration card, adding conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, lupus, mitochondrial disease, epidermolysis bullosa, AIDS, peripheral neuropathy, intractable pain, and broadening Crohn's disease to inflammatory bowel disease generally.

Registered medical cannabis patients and their caregivers, physicians who certify patients, pharmacists and dispensing licensees, the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, designated universities and colleges doing cannabis research, the Department of Public Health, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, and people facing criminal charges for cannabis possession near the new thresholds.

Patients with a wider range of diagnoses, including Alzheimer's, lupus, and chronic pain conditions, could qualify for a registration card, and legal possession limits would shift from a fluid-ounce measure to a weight-based measure. Criminal exposure for possessing larger amounts would change, and a previously banned method of using the product would become legal.

• Section 1-1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Providing Effective Access to Cannabis for Health (PEACH) Act.'
• Section 3-1 rewrites Code Section 16-12-190's definitions and Code Section 16-12-191's possession, felony, and trafficking tiers, moving from a fluid-ounce to an ounce-based measurement system with felony penalties of 1 to 10 years and trafficking penalties up to 20 years and $1 million in fines.
• Section 3-1 also repeals the separate legal exemption for university clinical research program participants that previously existed in subsection (b) of Code Section 16-12-191.
• Section 3-6 repeals Code Section 16-12-234 in its entirety, removing the current prohibition on certain methods of ingesting the product.
• Section 3-7 and 3-8 revise the definitions of 'marijuana' and Schedule I substances in O.C.G.A. §§ 16-13-21 and 16-13-25 to exclude lawfully possessed medical cannabis from the state's controlled substances law.
• Section 3-9 rewrites Code Section 31-2A-18 to expand the list of qualifying conditions for a patient registration card and updates related definitions for 'caregiver' and 'medical cannabis.'
• Section 3-3 keeps but clarifies existing rules requiring licensees to operate at least 3,000 feet, and dispensing licensees at least 1,000 feet, from schools, early care programs, or houses of worship.

1. 2025-02-19House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-18House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-13House Hopper (House)

• David Clark (R, HD-100)Primary sponsor
• William Werkheiser (R, HD-157)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Karen Mathiak (R, HD-082)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Alan Powell (R, HD-033)

• medical cannabis
• drug possession penalties
• controlled substances law
• patient registry
• healthcare regulation