ATLANTA — When the state agency that oversees Georgia’s medical cannabis program issued its first dispensary licenses late last month, it gave the two licensees four months to get them up and running.
Trulieve Georgia and Botanical Sciences LLC won’t take nearly as long. Trulieve opened pharmacies in Marietta and Macon the very next day after receiving its licenses, while Botanical Sciences plans to open two more late next month or early July.
“These licensees have sprinted,” said Andrew Turnage, executive director of the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. “It’s an amazing will.”
The speed at which the two companies are opening dispensaries stands in sharp contrast to the frustratingly slow pace at which the medical cannabis program got to this point.
The General Assembly first legalized possession of low-THC cannabis oil to treat a variety of medical conditions in 2015, but failed to provide patients with a legal way to obtain the drug. Adult patients and parents of sick children have been forced to leave the state to obtain cannabis oil or buy it illegally in Georgia for years.
As recently as 2019, lawmakers passed a bill that would provide a licensing process for companies that are allowed to grow marijuana indoors under strict supervision, convert the leaf crop into cannabis oil, and sell the product with a doctor’s prescription to patients registered for it by the Georgia Department of Public Health Registry.
The registry currently has around 27,000 patients. But it’s expected to grow quickly now that the first pharmacies are open. Turnage said he expects the list to reach 100,000 patients over the next year.
“A lot of people held back to make sure this was actually going to happen,” he said. “A lot of people were scared because it was illegal. They don’t want to risk crossing state lines.”
Trulieve and Botanical Sciences helped speed the process by beginning construction of manufacturing facilities in Adel and Glennville, respectively, last fall, when the commission granted them Class 1 manufacturing licenses. Under the 2019 law, Class 1 licensees are permitted to grow marijuana in an indoor area of up to 100,000 square feet.
Botanical Sciences has already completed two harvests at the Glennville site, said Gary Long, the company’s CEO. He said the company has 25 employees in Glennville and expects to increase that number to as many as 100 within six months. Each pharmacy will hire 12 to 15 employees, Long said.
Trulieve Georgia President Lisa Pinkney said the Adel plant has fewer than 50 workers but will hire more as demand for the product increases. Each of Trulieve’s two pharmacies has seven to 10 employees, she said.
Both companies use what is known as a vertically integrated business model, as required by the 2019 law.
Long said the “seed-to-sale” model holds botanical sciences in charge of the entire process, from planting and harvesting the seeds to producing cannabis oil and selling the product.
“Fully integrated licenses are very good not only for ourselves but also for the patients because we have control over the process,” he said.
While the law prohibits companies from advertising or marketing cannabis oil, both companies plan to educate patients and physicians about the program.
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Pinkney said Trulieve has already held three virtual training sessions for doctors.
“No question is a stupid question,” she said. “That is new.”
For a long time it was said that misconceptions had to be dispelled in order to educate patients.
“This is not a smoke shop,” he said. “Our pharmacies will be more like medical facilities.”
Long said demonstrating the company’s reputable medical nature to the Commission played an important role in obtaining manufacturing and distribution licenses.
“We were founded by doctors,” he said. “The vision is to provide patients with medical care.”
Pinkney said Trulieve’s diverse management team helped him win licenses because the state was looking for diversity. She is African American and Pro Football Hall of Famer Champ Bailey, who is also Black, is part of the owner.
“Trulieve has assembled a very diverse and experienced team,” said Pinkney.
Both companies are initially planning to locate their pharmacies in areas with a high population density and thus a large number of suitable patients.
In addition to pharmacies in Macon and Marietta, Trulieve plans to open pharmacies in Newnan, Pooler and Columbus this summer. Botanical Sciences plans to open in Pooler and Marietta.
A feature of the 2019 law that is unique to Georgia is that it also allows independent pharmacies across Georgia to dispense cannabis oil to patients.
“That might be helpful in outskirts of Georgia where we don’t have dispensaries,” Pinkney said.
While the two Class 1 licensees are in full swing, four other companies that received provisional Class 2 licenses from the Commission in 2021 are being delayed by lawsuits filed by losing bidders who are challenging the selection process as flawed. Class 2 licensees are allowed to grow marijuana in an indoor area of up to 50,000 square feet.
Turnage said he expects the case to go to Fulton County Superior Court in the fall.
“Litigation is the only impediment to getting these licenses granted,” he said. “We believe it’s time to move forward.”
