Georgia Issues First Five Medical Cannabis Dispensary Licenses

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission (GMCC) on Wednesday issued the state’s first five licenses to dispense low-THC medical cannabis in the state. The commission awarded the licenses to Botanical Sciences LLC and Trulieve GA Inc for dispensaries in Bibb, Chatham, and Cobb counties. 

Under the state’s medical cannabis law, products sold through dispensaries can contain up to 5% THC. Both Trulieve and Botanical hold Class 1 production licenses in the state.   

In a statement, Andrew Turnage, executive director of the GMCC, said Trulieve and Botanical, “have been working hard to get their production facilities fully operational” and have “signaled they are ready to sell to registered patients by applying for these initial dispensing licenses.”   

“The dispensing licenses issued today are just the beginning. As more dispensaries become licensed, more patients will be reached at locations throughout the state.” Even with these licenses issued, the current production licenses are able to apply for the additional ones until they reach the maximum number allowed by state law.” — Turnage in a press release 

The GMCC, under state law, can add one more dispensary license as patient counts in the state exceed 25,000 – 27,000 in all. The law allows the commission to add an additional dispensary license for every 10,000 patients over the 25,000 benchmark. 

The state’s medical cannabis law requires that dispensaries are fully operational within 120 days of the date the license is issued.