As reported in the Newnan Times-Herald Coweta County’s legislators talked about the change in the Certificate of Need law, and about issues related to land near the ocean and programs that impact veterans at the annual Pancakes and Politics breakfast. The breakfast was held Wednesday morning at Newnan Country Club. Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, moderated the event, which was sponsored by the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce. State Sen. Matt Brass talked about the complicated process that led to changes in the Certificate of Need law, a change which allows more Georgia patients to get care at Cancer Treatment Centers of America. “When you get under the Gold Dome, it’s one of the most divisive issues we have,” Brass said of the CON.  “We ended up sitting down and working on something both sides could agree on. That bill did not come out of Senate.”Facets of that bill are included in a bill the...READ MORE

The new law allows cannabis to be grown at four facilities in the state, and oils to be sold at 28 dispensaries. On Wednesday, Georgia governor Brian Kemp signed a bill into law that will allow medical marijuana patients to legally purchase some cannabis products in the state.  The state has allowed patients to use cannabis oil since 2015, but they have not been legally able to purchase oils in Georgia, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It is also illegal to grow cannabis or bring it in from another state.  Dr. Larry Tune, a geriatric neuropsychiatrist at Emory University Hospital, said that he would write prescriptions for medical marijuana, knowing how difficult it would be for patients to obtain.  “We can do that paperwork but it’s pointless,” he said.  The new law allows cannabis to be grown at four facilities in the state, and oils to be sold at 28 dispensaries, the AJC reported. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the measure on Wednesday, a little under a week after it...READ MORE

As reported by WMAZ Macon: ATLANTA — At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Governor Brian Kemp is set to sign HB 324, or Georgia’s Hope Act.  The bill allows for the production, manufacturing, and dispensing of low-THC oil, as well as the possession of certain quantities of low THC oil. While the Low THC Oil Patent Registry from 2015 allows patients to possess the oil, the bill says it does not provide access to the oil. The bill also creates the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission to issue university and production licenses.  RELATED: Medicinal marijuana scams could rise in Georgia, Better Business Bureau warns RELATED: Smoking pot vs. tobacco: What science says about lighting up It was sponsored by District 28 Senator Matt Brass and in the House of Representatives by District 67 Rep. Micah Gravely, District 123 Rep. Mark Newton, District 32 Rep. Alan Powell,  District 135 Rep. Calvin Smyre, District 98 Rep. David Clark, and District 21 Rep. Scot Turner. The...READ MORE

A group of Newnan High School students visited the state capitol last week to attend and speak at a commemoration ceremony for Vietnam Veterans – and ended up with a selfie with the governor. The students, who are in Steve Quisenberry’s Vietnam War class at NHS, were at the capitol for National Vietnam Veterans Day in Georgia. They were the only young people to speak at the ceremony, held in the capitol rotunda, said Quisenberry. The annual event at the capitol is part of the 13-year commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Three of the students spoke at the ceremony. “They did a great job,” Quisenberry said. The students from his class were recognized several times during the ceremony, he said. After the ceremony, various groups were having their pictures taken with Gov. Brian Kemp and others on the steps inside the capitol. Once that was over, Kemp came over to talk with the Newnan group, along...READ MORE