HB 227: Putting Georgia's Patients First Act; enact

Georgia currently regulates a limited medical marijuana extract called 'low THC oil' through the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. This bill, called the 'Putting Georgia's Patients First Act,' replaces that term with 'medical cannabis' throughout dozens of Code sections in Titles 2, 16, and 31, and expands the law to cover 'products' containing an equivalent amount of medical cannabis, not just the oil itself. The bill keeps existing possession limits and criminal penalties (misdemeanor for unauthorized possession under 20 fluid ounces, felony penalties scaling up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines for trafficking) but restates them to cover medical cannabis and its products. It excludes lawfully possessed medical cannabis from the definition of illegal marijuana under the Georgia Controlled Substances Act. It also removes 'severe or end stage' diagnosis requirements for conditions like cancer, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and others, drops the age and trauma-exposure limits on PTSD and autism, and adds lupus as a new qualifying condition. Licensees gain permission to share product information with registered patients and caregivers, subject to new Commission rules against false or child-targeted marketing.

• Renames 'low THC oil' as 'medical cannabis' across Georgia's agriculture, criminal, and public health codes (Titles 2, 16, and 31).
• Expands criminal and legal provisions to cover 'products' containing an equivalent amount of medical cannabis, not just the raw oil.
• Excludes lawfully possessed and controlled medical cannabis from the definition of illegal marijuana under the Georgia Controlled Substances Act (O.C.G.A. Chapter 13 of Title 16).
• Removes 'severe or end stage' diagnosis requirements for cancer, ALS, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's, sickle cell disease, Alzheimer's, and several other qualifying conditions.
• Adds lupus as a new qualifying condition and removes age and trauma-exposure restrictions previously tied to autism and PTSD diagnoses.
• Allows licensees to share product information directly with registered patients and caregivers, not just physicians, under new Commission rules against false or child-targeted marketing.

Georgians registered as medical cannabis patients or seeking to qualify under conditions like cancer, ALS, PTSD, autism, or lupus; licensed producers, dispensers, and universities in the medical cannabis program; the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission; physicians and caregivers; and people facing criminal charges involving possession, sale, or trafficking of medical cannabis.

Patients with certain diagnoses may qualify for medical cannabis registration more easily since the bill drops requirements that their disease be 'severe' or 'end stage,' and lupus patients become newly eligible. Licensees could also communicate more directly with patients and caregivers about products, while existing criminal penalties for unauthorized possession or trafficking remain largely intact but now explicitly cover both oil and other product forms.

• Section 1-1 gives the bill its short title, the 'Putting Georgia's Patients First Act.'
• Sections 2-1 through 2-4 replace 'low THC oil' with 'medical cannabis' throughout Titles 2, 16, and 31 and in the tort liability statute (O.C.G.A. § 51-1-29.6).
• Section 3-1 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-12-190 and § 16-12-191 to redefine medical cannabis, exclude FDA-approved drugs and hemp products, and extend possession limits and penalties to cover both oil and equivalent products.
• Section 3-3 adds a new duty for the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission to conduct public awareness and education activities about the medical cannabis program.
• Section 3-4 revises O.C.G.A. § 16-12-215 to let licensees share product information with registered patients and caregivers, subject to new anti-deception and child-protection rules the Commission must adopt.
• Sections 3-5 and 3-6 amend the Georgia Controlled Substances Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 16-13-21, 16-13-25) to exclude lawfully possessed medical cannabis and products from the definition of marijuana and Schedule I tetrahydrocannabinol.
• Section 3-7 revises the list of qualifying conditions in O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-18, removing severity requirements for many diseases and adding lupus as a new qualifying condition.

1. 2025-02-28Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-27House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
3. 2025-02-27House Third Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
5. 2025-02-06House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-05House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-04House Hopper (House)

• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)Primary sponsor
• Matt Reeves (R, HD-99)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Leesa Hagan (R, HD-156)
• Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
• Eric Bell (D, HD-75)

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 27, 2025

   164 yea, 1 nay (2 not voting, 13 excused)

   PASSAGE: House Vote #111

• medical cannabis
• low THC oil
• drug policy
• patient eligibility
• controlled substances law