SB395: SB395 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

Georgia's Low THC Oil Patient Registry lets certain patients legally possess low THC cannabis oil for medical conditions, and doctors who recommend it have had to file reports twice a year. This bill changes that reporting requirement from semiannual to annual and keeps those reports focused on research, such as dosages, patient responses, and side effects, rather than punishment. It also confirms that a doctor's failure to file a report cannot be used 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 doctors, for investigatory, compliance, or disciplinary purposes. Separately, the bill adds a new section to Georgia's emergency medical services law declaring ambulance services, public, nonprofit, or for-profit, to be an essential service in the state. That declaration does not give any state agency or local government new regulatory power, and it does not conflict with Georgia's participation in the EMS Interstate Compact.

• Changes the required frequency of physician reports to the Low THC Oil Patient Registry board from semiannual to annual under O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-18.
• Confirms that a physician's failure to submit an annual report cannot be used as grounds to cancel or revoke a patient's registration card.
• Adds a new disclosure category allowing the Department of Public Health to share registry information with the Georgia Composite Medical Board for investigatory, compliance, or disciplinary purposes.
• Adds a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 31-11-13) declaring all ambulance services in Georgia, public or private, to be essential services.
• Clarifies that this new ambulance designation does not grant any state agency or local government new regulatory authority and does not conflict with Georgia's membership in the EMS Interstate Compact.

Physicians who recommend low THC oil for patients, patients and caregivers registered with the Low THC Oil Patient Registry, the Department of Public Health, the Georgia Composite Medical Board, and public, nonprofit, and private ambulance service providers across Georgia.

Doctors who treat registry patients would file fewer reports each year, and patients would have added assurance that a missed report cannot cost them their registration card. Meanwhile, ambulance providers gain a formal 'essential service' label in state law, though the bill specifies this does not change who regulates them.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-18(e), changing physician reporting to the Low THC Oil board from semiannual to annual and reaffirming reports are for research on the oil's efficacy.
• Section 1 also states a physician's failure to submit a report cannot serve as grounds for the department to cancel or revoke a patient's registration card.
• Section 1 adds subsection (f)(4), permitting disclosure of registry information to the Georgia Composite Medical Board for investigatory, compliance, or disciplinary purposes.
• Section 2 adds new Code Section 31-11-13, declaring ambulance services in Georgia, public, private nonprofit, or for-profit, to be essential services.
• Section 2 specifies this new designation does not alter existing local coordinating entities' role in territorial zones and health districts.
• Section 2 clarifies the new section does not grant new regulatory power to any state agency or local government and does not conflict with Georgia's status in the EMS Interstate Compact.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-07-01
2. 2026-05-11Act 506
3. 2026-05-11Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-03-27Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2026-03-23House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2026-03-23House Third Readers (House)
8. 2026-03-20House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Primary sponsor
• 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)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 24, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (6 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #576

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 23, 2026

   161 yea, 0 nay (8 not voting, 7 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #742

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 27, 2026

   46 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 5 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #836

• medical marijuana
• low THC oil registry
• emergency medical services
• ambulance services
• medical licensing