SB 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

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.

• 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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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8. 2026-03-20House Withdrawn, Recommitted (Cámara de Representantes)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Patrocinador principal
• 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. AprobadaVotación: Senado24 de febrero de 2026

   46 a favor, 0 en contra (6 sin votar, 3 ausentes)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #576

2. AprobadaVotación: Cámara de Representantes23 de marzo de 2026

   161 a favor, 0 en contra (8 sin votar, 7 ausentes)

   Passage: House Vote #742

3. AprobadaVotación: Senado27 de marzo de 2026

   46 a favor, 0 en contra (3 sin votar, 5 ausentes)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #836

• medical cannabis
• low THC oil registry
• physician licensing
• emergency medical services
• ambulance services