Georgia CommonsSB 395: Department of Public Health; eligible for the Low THC Oil Patient Registry; require a physician to submit certain information to the Georgia Composite Medical Board
Last action May 11, 2026 · Effective Date 2026-07-01
A Georgia Senate bill changes how doctors report on medical cannabis oil patients, protects patients from losing their registry cards over paperwork, and declares ambulance services an essential service statewide.
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 Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds.
In plain language
Georgia's Low THC Oil Patient Registry lets people with certain medical conditions legally possess low-THC cannabis oil, and doctors who recommend it must file reports with the Department of Public Health. This bill changes that reporting requirement from twice a year to once a year, and it adds a new protection saying a physician's failure to file a report cannot be used as grounds to cancel or revoke a patient's registration card. The bill also lets the Department of Public Health share registry information with the Georgia Composite Medical Board, the state agency that licenses and disciplines physicians, so the board can use it for investigations, compliance checks, or discipline. Separately, the bill declares all ambulance services in Georgia, whether run by public, nonprofit, or for-profit companies, to be essential services. It clarifies this does not give any state agency or local government new regulatory power and does not conflict with Georgia's participation in the multistate EMS Interstate Compact.
What the bill does
- Changes the required physician reports to the Low THC Oil Patient Registry from semiannual to annual.
- Bars the Department of Public Health from canceling or revoking a patient's registration card just because a physician failed to submit a required report.
- Allows the department to disclose registry information to the Georgia Composite Medical Board for investigatory, compliance, or disciplinary purposes.
- Declares all ambulance services in Georgia, public, nonprofit, or for-profit, to be essential services in the state.
- Clarifies that declaring ambulance services essential does not grant new regulatory authority to any state agency or local government and does not conflict with Georgia's membership in the EMS Interstate Compact.
Who it affects
Patients registered in Georgia's Low THC Oil Patient Registry and their caregivers, physicians who recommend low-THC oil treatment, the Department of Public Health, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, and ambulance providers, whether public, nonprofit, or for-profit, that operate in the state.
Why it matters
Patients who rely on medically recommended low-THC oil would no longer risk losing their registration cards because a doctor missed a paperwork deadline, and doctors face a lighter annual reporting schedule. The essential-service label for ambulances could affect how those services are treated in state policy discussions going forward.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-18(e) to change physician reports on registry patients from semiannual to annual and lists what the reports must cover, such as dosages, clinical responses, and side effects.
- Section 1 adds language stating a physician's failure to submit a report cannot be used as a basis to cancel or revoke a patient's registration card.
- Section 1 amends subsection (f) to allow disclosure of registry information to the Georgia Composite Medical Board for investigatory, compliance, or disciplinary purposes.
- Section 1 also updates confidentiality language so identifying information removed for research or statistical use refers to 'physicians' rather than 'prescribers.'
- Section 2 adds new Code Section 31-11-13 declaring ambulance services, public, nonprofit, or for-profit, to be essential services in Georgia.
- Section 2 clarifies this new designation does not change local coordinating entity arrangements or grant new regulatory power to any state agency or local government.
- Section 2 states the new provision does not conflict with existing emergency medical services laws (O.C.G.A. §§ 31-11-3, 31-11-4, 38-3-71) or Georgia's status in the EMS Interstate Compact.
- Section 3 repeals all laws in conflict with the Act.
From the bill
“A physician's failure to submit such a report shall not serve as the basis for the department to cancel or revoke a registration card.”
“Ambulance services, whether provided by a public, private nonprofit, or private for profit entity, are hereby declared to be essential services in this state.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date 2026-07-01
- Act 506
- Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
Show full history (19 actions)
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Recommitted (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)
- Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
- Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
- Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
- John Albers (R, SD-056)
- Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
- Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
- Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
- Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
- Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
Votes
- Senate voteFebruary 24, 2026
46 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 3 absent)
- House voteMarch 23, 2026
161 yea, 0 nay (8 not voting, 7 absent)
- Senate voteMarch 27, 2026
46 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 5 absent)
Topics
- medical cannabis
- low THC oil registry
- physician licensing
- emergency medical services
- ambulance services