Georgia CommonsSenate · Introduced · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 277: Drug Abuse Treatment and Education Programs; definition of drugs to include alcohol and its derivatives; revise
Last action February 27, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred
A Georgia Senate bill would redefine 'drugs' under the state's drug abuse treatment and education law to include alcohol and its derivatives, reversing a current exclusion.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Introduced version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia's drug abuse treatment and education programs law (O.C.G.A. § 26-5-3) currently defines 'drugs' as any substance treated as a drug under federal or state law, or any similar chemical substance, but specifically excludes alcohol and its derivatives from that definition. This bill would flip that exclusion. It amends the definition in Code Section 26-5-3 so that alcohol and its derivatives are explicitly included as 'drugs' rather than excluded. The bill does not add new penalties, funding, or programs; it changes a single definition within an existing chapter covering drug abuse treatment and education. All other laws in conflict with the change would be repealed.
What the bill does
- Rewrites the definition of 'drugs' in Georgia's drug abuse treatment and education law (O.C.G.A. § 26-5-3) to include alcohol and its derivatives instead of excluding them.
- Applies this changed definition specifically within Chapter 5 of Title 26, which governs drug abuse treatment and education programs.
- Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this new definition.
Who it affects
The change affects how alcohol is treated under Georgia's drug abuse treatment and education programs, which could touch agencies and providers running those programs, as well as individuals whose eligibility or treatment under that chapter depends on how 'drugs' is defined.
Why it matters
By including alcohol in the legal definition of 'drugs' for this chapter, alcohol-related cases could be handled the same way as other drug cases under Georgia's treatment and education programs, potentially changing who qualifies for or is subject to those programs.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends Code Section 26-5-3, paragraph (4), striking the phrase excluding alcohol from the definition of 'drugs' and inserting language that includes alcohol and its derivatives.
- Section 2 repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change.
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Blake Tillery (R, SD-19)
Topics
- drug abuse treatment
- alcohol regulation
- Georgia law definitions
- substance abuse programs