RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN GEORGIA

Physicians recommending cannabis must have a certified doctor-patient relationship with someone that you determine to have one or more of the diseases specified in the law. There is a waiver form and certification form that you must have the patient, parent, or legal guardian countersign; keep this form in your files. Patients may bring in partially completed documents, or blank ones. Once this is complete you can fill in your patient’s information in the Georgia Registry portal.

You are not required to certify a patient who has an eligible condition, but you should! State law protects doctors from criminal prosecution for recommending cannabis, so you will not face consequences for the act of helping your patient.

Qualifying Conditions for the Low THC Oil Registry:

  • Cancer, when such diagnosis is end stage or the treatment produces related wasting illness or recalcitrant nausea and vomiting
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, when such diagnosis is severe or end-stage
  • Seizure disorders related to the diagnosis of epilepsy or trauma-related head injuries
  • Multiple sclerosis, when such diagnosis is severe or end-stage
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Mitochondrial disease
  • Parkinson’s disease, when such diagnosis is severe or end-stage
  • Sickle cell disease, when such diagnosis is severe or end-stage
  • Tourette’s syndrome, when such syndrome is diagnosed as severe
  • Autism spectrum disorder, when (a) patient is 18 years of age or more, or (b) patient is less than 18 years of age and diagnosed with severe autism
  • Epidermolysis bullosa
  • Alzheimer’s disease, when such disease is severe or end-stage
  • AIDS when such syndrome is severe or end-stage
  • Peripheral neuropathy, when symptoms are severe or end-stage
  • Patient is in hospice program, either as inpatient or outpatient
  • Intractable pain
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from direct exposure to or witnessing of a trauma for a patient who is at least 18 years of age

 

Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the First Amendment. Established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that found doctors and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options.

More resources for medical professionals can be found here.