Business investors watch Georgia’s cannabis debate

ATLANTA -- Next year, Georgia may legalize its own home-grown medical marijuana industry if a Macon lawmaker has his way. Meanwhile, some companies and nonprofits are lined up, waiting for the door to open.

A demand exists in Georgia for at least some types of medical cannabis, said Jake Bergmann, CEO of Surterra, an “innovative agriculture” company in Atlanta that was incorporated last year and is looking into opportunities to supply that demand.

“Surterra is looking at medical legalization across multiple states ... with a focus on Georgia,” he said.

State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, who’s leading the medical cannabis quest, first proposed in-state marijuana growing last year. Gov. Nathan Deal, however, recently announced he is not interested in that until at least next year.

Nevertheless, “Georgia is still a very high priority,” said Bergmann, “whenever Georgia is ready for it.”

Any big spending decision, however, will have to wait until Surterra can evaluate the rules, regulation and investment environment.

Another Georgia company, Halcyon Organics, bills itself as the “first medical marijuana company in the South.”

So far, the Atlanta company is selling T-shirts in Georgia.

But company officials are watching what happens in the state Legislature.

“Halcyon Organics is already producing medical cannabis in California,” said CEO Daniel Macris, and if the law changes, Halcyon has the ability to provide a form of liquid cannabis medicine to Georgians who need it.

The first legal investment in medical cannabis is probably the $8 million that Georgia Regents University estimates it will take to run a year of clinical trials now underway on Epidiolex, a medicine from GW Pharmaceuticals, a British firm that is providing the liquid for free.

And there’s another sign of commercial interest: A handful of lobbyists are registered under the Gold Dome this year to keep an eye on cannabis policy.

But one Colorado medical cannabis nonprofit founder said he is definitely not looking for markets in Georgia under current state and federal law.

Warner Robins native Jason Cranford’s Flowering HOPE Foundation grows specially bred cannabis and manufactures medicine for patients such as Monroe County 5-year-old Haleigh Cox, who has a severe seizure disorder. Haleigh and her mother, Janea, have temporarily relocated to Colorado so Haleigh can legally take the medicine that has greatly reduced her seizures.

Cranford worked with a strain named “Haleigh’s Hope” that is rich in cannabidiol, or CBD. That’s a compound that doesn’t cause a high but that many patients say is therapeutic for a range of ailments. Haliegh’s Hope is low in THC, the chemical in cannabis that gives users a high.

But if Cranford were to ship that to Georgia, that’s risking federal drug smuggling charges and would give Colorado grounds to revoke his hemp-growing license, a risk he’s not willing to take.

“It’s not just Haleigh. It’s 200 other patients” who would lose their source of medicine if he lost his license, he said.

There’s a huge demand for Flowering HOPE products, Cranford said, but “we don’t have a waiting list.”

Rather than spending money on lobbying in other states, Cranford said, Flowering HOPE uses its money to grow more plants.

A much larger Colorado operation is looking to ship to all 50 states, including Georgia. The family behind the nonprofit Realm of Caring has a waiting list of thousands nationwide and internationally for its “Charlotte’s Web” liquid.

Charlotte’s Web is high in CBD and so low in THC that the Realm of Caring explored shipping it nationwide as “hemp,” just like hemp granola bars and other mundane groceries.

Joel Stanley had to apologize to the would-be recipients in November because he wouldn’t be able to ship.

It’s an “extreme(ly) gray legal area,” Stanley said in a video statement. “What we’re doing is getting the best attorneys we can find to help us interpret the laws so that as we step forward we’re not stepping on law enforcement toes and jeopardizing all of you and jeopardizing our supply.”

What Stanley and his brother have done is acquire a field in Uruguay. Last year, the South American country became the first in the world to set up a legal market for production, sale and use of cannabis.

Peake is watching the Stanleys and Uruguay closely, saying it may prove to be an option for Georgia families to legally get the drug delivered to their doorsteps.

SLOUCHING TOWARD COLORADO?

A single Georgia Democrat has filed a bill that would legalize all cannabis use in Georgia in this year’s General Assembly, but it’s unclear if the GOP-dominated Legislature will even hold a hearing on such a far-fetched pitch.

Peake and Deal stand firmly against recreational use of marijuana. They often repeat one argument: They do not want Georgia to become Colorado when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana. Georgia’s sheriffs have said they are concerned about a slippery slope in that direction.

No state Legislature has yet legalized recreational cannabis; in the four states where it’s allowed, it’s because of statewide votes, according to the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. Voters in four states have given the OK for adult recreational use of cannabis: Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska.

According to the national legislative conference, it’s not accurate to say medicinal programs cause or lead to recreational legalization or vice versa. In some states, years of medical or recreational lobbying have never been successful. Altogether, the conference’s state law time line shows mixed results.

California voters approved medical cannabis in 1996 but have never approved recreational use. Maine followed in 1999 and doesn’t have recreational provisions either. Alaska and Oregon both approved medicinal uses in 1998, and their recreational laws are in effect this year.

Morgan Fox advocates ending the prohibition on marijuana altogether and replacing it with regulation. He works for the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying firm.

He said there is a link between exposure to medical cannabis and acceptance of the recreational kind. But it’s not a slippery slope, he said, but rather a change of attitude.

“It’s a natural progression for states that have seen success with medical marijuana to see with more clarity ... that it is able to be regulated,” Fox said. Then some people start to re-evaluate their thoughts on cannabis, he said.

Georgia does have a small community of activists who are at the Capitol this year seeking legalization for recreational use. Time will tell if they get any traction.

“I don’t think this is something Georgians have to worry about getting rushed into,” Fox said.

To contact reporter Maggie Lee, e-mail mlee@macon.com.

This story was originally published January 18, 2015 at 10:19 PM with the headline "Business investors watch Georgia’s cannabis debate ."