Georgia Pharmacy – Source: Jacob Wackerhausen / Getty
Georgia is pushing the limits of how medical marijuana is purchased and distributed and will allow pharmacies to become an alternative to dispensaries.
While few states have budged on medical cannabis, Georgia is ready to push the limits. According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Georgia will soon be the first state in the U.S. to offer medical marijuana products in independent pharmacies.
Only two companies in Georgia are licensed to produce the products and 120 pharmacies have agreed to sell medication from Botanical Sciences. Currently, the state only has seven dispensaries to cover all 159 counties.
The AJC reports that medical marijuana prescriptions can only be given by physicians to patients who have severe illnesses and when the low THC-based products arrive, 90% of the state’s population will have pharmacies with medical cannabis within a 30-minute drive.
This is expected to provide a serious boost to the economy and small businesses who opt-in.
11 Alive is also adding that medical cannabis patients can buy cannabis oil at pharmacies if they show a state-issued low THC oil registry card and identification. The products won’t be sold by national drugstores like CVS and Walgreens.
The registered number of medical marijuana patients is currently around 14,000 patients including caregivers. If you’re wondering how something like this could happen in the South, it all goes back to accessibility.
“We’re going to have patients that need this health care in some remote parts of Georgia that probably would never have a dispensary near them,” said Jonathan Marquess, vice president for the Georgia Pharmacy Association and the owner of several pharmacies in the Atlanta area in a statement to 11 Alive. “But they do have a caring professional, a knowledgeable professional pharmacist, in their communities who can talk to them.”
This is a very bold move for the state of Georgia, as the times change, maybe one-day recreational use will be approved as well.
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