State Rep. Peake Seeks Statewide Vote on Medical Cannabis Amendment
(APN) ATLANTA — State Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) is filing a bill to create a statewide referendum in 2018 on whether to amend the Constitution of the State of Georgia to allow the in-state cultivation of medical cannabis.
The referendum on a Constitutional Amendment will require two-thirds of both chambers to move forward but does not require the Governor’s signature.
“It will be difficult to get in-state cultivation for the next two years, so let the people decide and the next Governor can have input, if it is passed,” State Rep. Peake told Atlanta Progressive News.
Previously, the Legislature adopted HB 1, which allowed possession of medical cannabis oil for eight conditions, but no legal means to access it in-state.
HB 722 was a follow-up bill to allow in-state cultivation, but it was defeated last year after Gov. Nathan Deal refused to support the idea of in-state cultivation and law enforcement worried they would not be able control medical cannabis cultivation in Georgia.
Georgia would use the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Model, which is the most regulated in the country. It would use technology to track and control the product from seed to sell. The grow area would have more security cameras than a Las Vegas Casino.
For law enforcement to worry about control of medical cannabis cultivation is unrealistic and hypocritical, especially since cannabis has been grown and sold on the black-market in Georgia for the past fifty or sixty years and, as history has shown, sometimes with the help of rogue law enforcement officials.
Undeterred by obstacles, Rep. Peake is dedicated to help Georgians who suffer from various medical conditions to obtain the medical cannabis that will help them.
Like so many Energizer Bunnies, Rep. Peake keeps on fighting for suffering Georgians.
Rep. Peake tells APN that he will add autism, Tourette’s Syndrome, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), HIV and AIDS, and intractable pain to his medical cannabis bill this year.
This will help little baby, Reid Underwood, who was born with a rare genetic skin disease, Epidermolysis Bullosa, a painful condition where part of his skin is missing and falls off easily with the slightest bump.
Baby Reid’s story brought tears to almost everyone who heard the testimony of his story last year, as reported in APN.
The addition of the medical conditions of PTSD and intractable pain may present a fight because some law enforcement officers views this as recreational usage.
Traumatized war veterans and people who suffer from unrelenting pain disagree.
Chronic pain patients are currently taking pharmaceuticals like Oxycontin, Methadone, and Hydrocodone.
In 2015 more than 15,000 people died from overdoses involving prescription opioids. No one has ever died from a cannabis overdose.
Rep. Peake tells APN he also plans to remove the end stage qualifier from the existing law.
Five of the eight current medical condition require that the condition be severe or end stage to receive medical cannabis. It is inhumane to only give CBD oil to people who are dying.
People who suffer from cancer, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, and Sickle Cell Disease who are sick and suffering but haven’t reached the severe and dying stage should also have access to medical cannabis.
Proponents of medical cannabis believe physicians should make the decision on who needs medical cannabis, not Conservative legislators who have lots of fear and misinformation about the plant.
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If it will get medical marijuana legalized so that suffering people can access it relatively free of fear, I’d be willing to put up with a system slightly stricter than the Minnesota system. For instance, I’d be okay with limiting cultivation to single-owner or family owned property; to limiting cultivation to no more than 10 acres held by any one person or family; to assigning each property a license to grow a particular strain of marijuana (perhaps with very low THC) most needed for medical purposes with violations penalized by loss of the grow license.
I have a feeling though that the biggest barrier to relief for innocent sufferers like Baby Reid will be Renee Unterman. I pray her Rabbi or someone in her Synagogue will talk to her; try to move her toward compassion. She has tried to make life better for victims of sex trafficking. I think her mind could be changed.
I have Crohn’s Disease. The first time I smoked marijuana with this disease I felt like I didn’t even know I had it.
I hope this passes, CBDs are good, but THC shouldn’t be discounted either.