Legalizing Medical Cannabis

It took around a decade for Allen Peake’s vision to become reality in Georgia, but because of his commitment to Georgians who have serious health conditions, patients now have legal access to medical cannabis.

A conservative Republican and wildly successful businessman in the restaurant industry, Peake represented a Macon-area state House district from 2007 to 2019. It’s safe to say he didn’t get into politics thinking he’d one day leave a legislative legacy that involved advancing marijuana policy.

What changed that was a fateful meeting with Haleigh Cox, a young girl in his district who had 200 seizures a day – any one of which could have been fatal. Haleigh’s mom Janea Cox had seen a TV story about medical cannabis providing significant relief to people with Haleigh’s condition. But the medication was not only unavailable in Georgia, it was illegal to simply possess. Peake had no idea how or if he could help, but he knew what he had to do when he visited Haleigh in the hospital as she appeared to be near death.

“If it was my child, I’d do anything on heaven or earth to stop the seizures,” Peake said to himself at the time. He decided he would do whatever he could to help Haleigh, even if that was politically tricky for a conservative in a Republican-dominated legislature.

Peake introduced Haleigh’s Hope Act in 2014 to legalize possession of medical cannabis in Georgia, but he was figuring it out as he went, and it was going to take some time to educate legislators who had little interest in appearing pro-legalization of any marijuana-derived product.

The first thing legislators needed to learn was that Peake was not pushing to legalize smoking weed, regardless of whether the purpose was medicinal or recreational. He was trying to legalize an oil with low levels of THC. That’s the compound in marijuana that gets users high, but there’s not enough THC in the oils to produce those psychedelic effects. The THC binds to specific receptors on the brain and nerve cells, which slows pain impulses, reduces seizures and eases discomfort.

The bill didn’t get far that first year. Haleigh’s family moved to Colorado where they could access the medication legally, and as a result she had far fewer seizures. Peake then started Journey of Hope, which provided funds to other Georgia families to move to Colorado and see if it worked for them. For many, it did.

Families of desperately ill children joined together and mobilized. They held packed news conferences in the state Capitol featuring children in wheelchairs and others with debilitating conditions. Lori Geary, then a political reporter with WSB-TV, spread public awareness with one story after another. Public support grew, and in 2015, Peake passed the bill that allowed families with state licenses to legally possess up to 20 ounces of low-THC oil with a doctor’s prescription.

It was still illegal under federal law, however, to bring medical cannabis into Georgia, so Peake started an underground network that flew in the cannabis oil from Colorado, eventually serving up to 1,000 people. “It evolved to the mom with breast cancer, to the grandfather with Alzheimer’s, to the college student with Crohn’s disease,” says Peake, who got constant calls of gratitude. “Those calls deepened my conviction that we were doing the right thing. What more can you do when people are telling you that you’re improving the quality of their lives?”

It took another four years before the General Assembly passed a law that allowed for production and sales by companies selected by the state after an extensive vetting process. Two companies, Trulieve and Botanical Sciences, were the first to open stores in Chamblee, Marietta, Newnan, Stockbridge, Evans, Macon and Pooler. This summer a third company, Fine Fettle, opened a location in Smyrna with plans to expand across the state.

Now, people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, seizure disorders, autism, chronic pain, PTSD and numerous other ailments can get the treatment they need right here in Georgia without fear of legal trouble. Despite this progress, too few patients and perhaps their doctors know about this program. The number of licenses distributed by the state pales in comparison to the number of Georgians who could benefit.

Patients interested in trying the medication should start by going to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission’s website at www.gmcc.ga.gov.

For evidence, we need look no further than the namesake of the Haleigh’s Hope Act – she’s alive and well.

Brian Robinson is co-host of WABE’s Political Breakfast podcast.