Macon Lawmaker to Introduce Medical Marijuana Bill

Things changed when he met 4-year-old Haleigh Cox this month in an Atlanta hospital. Cox suffers from up to a hundred seizures per day.

“Once I met Haleigh and just had an incredibly special time with her, I knew there was no way I could sit still on this issue,” said Peake.

The coming bill would allow doctors at a handful of academic research centers to prescribe an oil extract of marijuana to patients like Haleigh. 

Peake acknowledged passing the bill in a conservative state like Georgia would be an uphill battle. But he said the fight is worth it. 

“Almost every single constituency when presented with the facts that it’s very restricted, managed by doctors, limited in scope to seizure disorders in an oil-based formula only and not smoked – once they realize it’s not a six-year-old smoking a joint – most realize this is the compassionate thing to do,” said Peake.

A pair of recent polls have shown a majority of Georgians support the legalization of medical marijuana in limited cases. And last week, a state senator proposed a resolution that aims to create a study committee on the issue.  

In Peake’s proposal, the oil-based extract would come from Colorado, which recently legalized marijuana in small amounts. It would be processed at research centers at the University of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, Emory University, Mercer University, and Morehouse College. 

Georgia actually already has a medical marijuana law on the books. In 1980, legislators empowered a state-appointed board of physicians to prescribe cannabis sativa to cancer and glaucoma patients for clinical studies. However, due to political pressure and funding issues, the board has remained inactive for at least 15 years.

Peake’s bill would reactivate that board. He says the state’s largest physician group, the Medical Association of Georgia, has already endorsed the idea.

“It will be a monumental task to get this bill done but if we can do it this session for these families and these kids it’ll be worth every ounce of political influence I have,” said Peake.

In a December opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Christian Coalition came out against any state legislation permitting the use of marijuana.

House Speaker David Ralston hasn’t taken a position yet, but he says he wants science, not politics, to drive the debate.