By Ben Nadler

 

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s governor has only a few days left to decide whether to veto or sign the remaining bills sent to him by the state legislature. Among those bills is one that would expand access to medical cannabis oil.

By law, Republican Gov. Nathan Deal has 40 days to veto a bill or sign it into law, a deadline that ends Tuesday. The governor can also decline to do either and let a bill automatically become law without his name attached.

The state budget, a transit expansion plan and a measure that bans drivers from holding a cellphone are major pieces of legislation Deal has already signed into law. But the governor has yet to weigh in on a number of controversial bills, including one that would carve a new city of Eagles Landing, in part from the existing city of Stockbridge, and another that would criminalize unauthorized computer access.

The term-limited Deal, who is likely considering his final round of legislation as governor, also has yet to make a determination on bills that expand access to medical marijuana oil, allow victims of domestic violence to break a housing lease and keep lottery winners anonymous.

Adding PTSD and intractable pain as qualifying conditions

Georgia could widen access to medical marijuana oil if Deal signs a bill adding post-traumatic stress disorder and intractable pain to the list of ailments it can be used to treat.

The bill would also create a study commission to look at access to the low-potency medical marijuana oil that can be prescribed in Georgia.

A legal limbo currently exists in the state where patients can legally possess the drug, but it cannot be manufactured here.

Proponents say that adding PTSD and intractable pain to the list will help steer veterans and others away from addictive opioid painkillers.

Deal last year approved an expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program to include autism, AIDS, Tourette’s syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease.