| Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal. |
Georgia Governor Nathan deal isn’t going to sit by and let a CBD-only medical cannabis bill he pushed this past session go to waste. Instead, the Republican says he is going to spearhead the effort to get clinical trial programs started.
Deal met with officials yesterday to kickstart the program.
“We all have to be sensitive to the children who have these seizures, and that is the focal point for all this discussion,” Deal said. “I want it to be helpful, not harmful. And I want it to be legal, and that’s why we are taking the steps to make sure we achieve all of those goals.”
Under the state plan, Georgia Regents University will partner with GW Pharmaceuticals to create a clinical trial for children suffering from severe seizure disorders. A similar program with GW Pharmaceuticals is currently being created in New York.
Deal says he wants the program running by 2015.
That might not be soon enough for some parents. Valerie Weaver tells Time that she is anxious to get her 6-year-old son, Preston, in the program.
“It’s time we get with the program,” Weaver said.”It’s the Bible Belt. The only thing I can tell people is to educate yourself.”
Preston currently suffers from as many as 80 seizures in a day.
Deal was instrumental in getting the CBD-only program approved last year after the state legislature failed to come to an agreement on a similar proposal.