ATLANTA — More than a dozen protests filed with the state may slow production of medical marijuana in Georgia. The state announced six businesses would get licenses to produced cannabis oil.
Some of those left out are squawking about it – saying the state misread their applications, or attacking the winners.
Georgia's new law allowing production of medical cannabis specifies only six companies can get licenses to do it. A company called FFD Georgia Holdings LLC plans to build a medical marijuana cultivation site east of Macon.
But one of its competitors, eyeing its online presence, complains that it “caters primarily to recreational cannabis users – not… for medical use.”
Another winner was Botanical Sciences, a company whose home page says only “website coming soon," and who lists former Georgia congressman and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price as a member of its board of directors.
Meantime, a company called Peach State Medicinals, whose license application was denied, claimed the commission that granted the licenses didn’t actually read or comprehend its application.
"In several instances, information that is in our proposal was either disregarded or missed by reviewers," said attorney Robbie Ashe, who filed a protest with the state medical cannabis commission. "As a result, Peach State’s score is lower – significantly lower than it should have been."
In all, 69 companies applied for medical marijuana cultivation license. The voluminous protests raises a concern for some advocates of medical cannabis.
"I’ve got mamas and I’ve got friends that need this oil," said Michelle Dunn, an advocate. "And they literally cannot get it now. It is not in Georgia. So I’m concerned it will drag out."
Georgia allows limited use of medical cannabis oil, but federal law bars its import from other states where it's produced legally.
The commission’s deadline to accept applications for cannabis oil production was in January. The announcement of the six licensees came more than six months after they applications were submitted.