Georgia tries to find way out of medical marijuana impasse

Jim Wages has waited years to be able to legally buy medical marijuana to help treat his daughter’s violent seizures.

They’ve found no relief, despite a state law passed three years ago that authorized six companies to sell cannabis oil to doctor-approved patients.

Georgia legislators are trying to break the bureaucratic deadlock of their own creation, with protests and legal threats by losing companies preventing license awards to the six winning companies.

“It’s definitely disheartening. We’ve been fighting years for this, and we still don’t have anything we can go into the store and buy,” said Wages, whose 18-year-old daughter, Sydney, suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. “It’s just gotten to the point where we need to move forward with this thing.”

The Georgia House may vote Tuesday on bills that could end the stalemate and issue licenses this summer.

Two proposals, Senate Bill 609 and House Bill 1453, would give the go-ahead to finalize licenses for the six companies chosen last year, despite ongoing protests from 16 companies who say the selection process was inherently flawed and unfair. Another measure, House Bill 1400, would get around the dispute by granting licenses to all 22 companies that either won tentative awards or protested. [Read More @ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]