What follows is a statement of support for comprehensive cannabis/marijuana legislative reform in Georgia.
The statement outlines the key pillars of what we believe cannabis reform in Georgia needs to look like in order to ensure the result is equitable, creates opportunities for all Georgians, and doesn’t leave people behind in the system. We have learned from the challenges and successes experienced by other states that have passed similar legislation and it is prudent that Georgia establish a comprehensive plan as we move toward this necessary and inevitable change.
To the Honorable Representatives and Senators of the General Assembly of Georgia,
We, the undersigned, support the drafting and passage of legislation providing for the following changes to Georgia state law:
Legalization of Cannabis, Creation of Regulatory Body
- Adult use and cultivation of cannabis for personal use. Removal from the state’s list of controlled substances.
- Regulation and taxation of cannabis use, sale, and cultivation like that of tobacco and alcohol.
- Formation of a state regulatory authority on cannabis. Implementation of a seed-to-sale tracking system.
- Commercial cultivation, processing, and sale. Decriminalization of related retail products.
- No imposed limits on the number of commercial licenses.
Retroactive Sentencing and Record Restriction
- Arrests and convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses will be made eligible for automatic record restriction and/or retroactive sentencing.
- A state-funded commission will oversee a judicial review of all cannabis convictions, to complete within 24 months.
- Through this process, all those convicted of a non-violent cannabis offense prior to its legalization shall have their conviction retroactively discharged without a judgment of guilt, releasing those incarcerated and clearing people’s criminal history.
Recognition, Expansion, and Regulation of Medical Applications
- Licensed medical practitioners may recommend the use of whole plant and derivatives to adults and minors.
- Establishment of a functional medical program. Further clinical research within the state should also be welcomed.
Social Equity Program
- Creation of a state social equity program administered by the state regulatory body and tasked with ensuring that the communities and populations that have been disproportionately impacted by cannabis laws will have equitable access to and benefit from the economic opportunities that legalization will create.
- This means transitional services, job training, and access to resources for those exiting the system as well as their families and members of disproportionately impacted communities.
- Require that all cannabis businesses seeking a license have a diversity plan and positive community impact plan.
Rural Georgia Economic Renaissance, Agricultural Hemp
- Create a legal distinction between cannabis and low-THC hemp in order to reduce regulatory barriers and realize the potential of the agricultural hemp industry to create jobs and spur economic development in rural Georgia.
- No limit on the number of licenses. Avoid high-cost barriers to market entry and encourage growth and competition.
We represent a broad, nonpartisan coalition of organizations and leaders with a diverse range of missions. We fully support this platform in order to strengthen social equity, public safety, economic mobility, and the state’s workforce and economic future.
Georgia cannabis law has resulted in harmful impacts on Georgia families, local communities, and the state economy. 1 in 4 Georgians has a criminal record. Families are hurt most when parents are incarcerated and face obstacles to employment. Seventy percent of Georgians behind bars for cannabis have a child. Medicinal alternatives provide affordable treatments for chronic and severe illness and help stem the tide of the opioid epidemic. Cannabis can treat a variety of symptoms with no potential for overdose.
The legalization and cultivation of cannabis and hemp in Georgia will open the state economy to new industries, create thousands of jobs, and generate billions of dollars in revenue. This will especially help the nearly two-thirds of Georgia’s 159 counties engaged primarily in agriculture. One in seven Georgians is employed in agriculture, forestry or related fields.
These reforms are necessarily comprehensive and interrelated so it is critical that all of them are passed as a package. We stand by all of them, collectively, and if they must be phased in, it should be done over the course of no more than four years.
We look forward to the drafting and successful passage of this legislation. We are prepared to provide our support and assistance at your request.
Respectfully,
The Undersigned
The following organizations have endorsed this statement.
- Alliance for Black Lives
- Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement
- Athens for Everyone
- Compassionate Atlanta
- Georgia Alliance for Social Justice
- Georgia Equality
- Georgia Shift
- Grassroots Gwinnett
- Libertarian Party of Georgia
- Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America
- Minorities for Medical Marijuana (national)
- Moms United to End the War on Drugs
- National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (national)
- Necessary Trouble Indivisible Group
- Open Savannah
- Our Revolution Georgia
- Peachtree NORML
- Reform Georgia
- Students for Sensible Drug Policy (national)
- SURJ Atlanta: Showing Up for Racial Justice
- Young Democrats of Georgia (state)
- Young Democrats of Cobb County
- Young Democrats of DeKalb County
- Young Democrats of Gwinnett County
- Young Democrats of Hall County
- Young Democrats of Richmond County
Several local and state legislators have also endorsed the statement and those will be published in the future.