Georgia medical cannabis industry set to expand as patient registry grows

Georgia’s medical cannabis market is set to grow by relative leaps and bounds now that the state’s formal patient registry has surpassed the 25,000 mark.

According to a press release from the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, the six licensed medical marijuana companies can each open one additional dispensary with every 10,000 new patients; currently, 13 stores are operational. Each licensee has already been granted five dispensary permits, but not all of those are open for business yet.

“As the patient registry continues to grow with the increasing need for medical cannabis, the number of dispensaries licensed by the Commission will also grow,” said Andrew Turnage, executive director of the commission.

“The Commission will be authorized to issue an additional dispensing license to each production company with every increase of 10,000 patients,” Turnage said. “We anticipate things are going to pick up in pace quickly from here.”

“Expanding Georgia’s medical cannabis program, especially providing service to patients, is why the Commission exists,” Sid Johnson, chair of the commission, said in the release.

Sales launched in April 2023, and it took about a year and a half for patient numbers to reach the 25,000 mark, but officials credited a recent surge to a two-month “listening tour” that hit four different colleges. A fifth stop is scheduled for next week.

The limited medical cannabis market only allows dispensaries to sell low-THC products with a maximum of 5% potency, and only tinctures, topical creams and pills are permitted.

Depending on the enforcement approach decided upon by the incoming Trump administration, pharmacies in Georgia may also begin selling medical cannabis. State authorities last year gave those retailers permission to sell the products, but the Biden administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration warned against such a move. At least one pharmacy opened anyway in defiance of the warning, but a new Trump administration could take a more lax approach.