Boosted by new state rules expanding eligibility as well as product offerings, Georgia’s medical cannabis program continues to grow so much so quickly that more business licenses will soon become available, state officials said.
At the same time, a lack of guidance from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration since medical cannabis was reclassified as a Schedule 3 drug – despite direct outreach from Georgia regulators – is hampering improvements, according to Andrew Turnbull, executive director of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission.
As of Sept. 23, there were 56,650 “active, registered patients” in Georgia, up from 45,000 patients in August, Turnbull told commissioners during the most recent GAMCC meeting.
That means the program is on pace to more than double in 2026.
As of March, there were only 34,500 registered patients out of a statewide population of 11.3 million.
How quickly is Georgia medical cannabis growing?
That was before the July 1 enactment of new rules under the Putting Georgia’s Patients First Act, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in May.
The new law dropped a percentage-based THC cap in favor of a milligram system, with patients able to possess up to 12,000 milligrams of THC at any one time, according to state health officials.
It also added conditions to include lupus and irritable bowel syndrome and removed the “severe or end stage” requirement for cancer and AIDS patients.
Smoking cannabis flower remains prohibited, but cannabis flower for vaporization is available.
The growth means that more medical marijuana dispensing locations are coming to Georgia.
Who holds Georgia medical marijuana licenses?
Georgia state law allows the cannabis program to add another dispensing license to each Class 1 and Class 2 production permit for each additional 10,000 patients in the state registry.
According to state records, there are two Class 1 license-holders and four Class 2 license holders, each of which started with five dispensing licenses.
Class 1:
- Botanical Sciences
- Trulieve GA, a subsidiary of Tallahassee, Florida-based Trulieve Cannabis Corp.
Class 2:
- FFD GA Holdings
- TheraTrue Georgia
- Natures GA
- Treevana Remedy
Can medical cannabis be mailed?
The commission also signed off on new rules that would allow medical cannabis to be delivered to patients in Georgia via the U.S. Postal Service. That’s an allowance that regulators believe is available thanks to federal marijuana rescheduling.
But Turnbull express frustration over limited guidance from DEA that’s complicating regulators’ jobs.
“It’s past time, and high time, for DEA to communicate with state regulators like us here in Georgia to better understand” the DEA registration process, offered to state-licensed operators in the spring, he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have written guidance from the DEA.”
“We certainly need guidance from the federal government,” he added. “It is not possible to make our regulations better, and suited to this DEA registration process, without that communication.”
