Powers, duties, and responsibilities

The commission shall have the following powers, duties, and responsibilities: (1) To apply for, receive, and administer state funds appropriated to the commission, private grants and donations, and other funds and donations. The commission’s annual distributions shall be capped and limited to funds received from the sources specified in this paragraph. The commission shall ensure that its funds are not used as a supplement or secondary payor to any other third-party payor; (2) To execute a contract or contracts to purchase or obtain low THC oil, cannabis, cannabinoids, or any other derivative, compound, or substantially similar products from any available legal source and to provide logistics related thereto in accordance with this article. Such contract or contracts may be executed with one or more qualified corporations or with one or more governmental entities. Purchases made pursuant to this paragraph shall not be subject to 178 16-12-203 OFFENSES/HEALTH & MORALS 16-12-203 state purchasing laws contained in Article 3 of Chapter 5 of Title 50 or in other provisions of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated; (3) To utilize funds appropriated to the commission as may be necessary to purchase and transport low THC oil and products to the State of Georgia for use by registered patients; (4) To develop, establish, maintain, and administer a low THC oil and products distribution network to obtain and distribute low THC oil and products to registered patients in this state and to coordinate the best use of facilities and resources to operate such distribution network; (5) To establish procedures for inspecting production facilities operated by designated universities; (6) To establish requirements and procedures to ensure quality control, security, and oversight of low THC oil and products production in this state, including, but not limited to, testing for purity and dosage levels and verification that product labels accurately reflect product content; (7) To provide for oversight of tracking systems; (8) To coordinate and assist in the collection of data to evaluate the provision of low THC oil and products in this state; (9) To study the provision of low THC oil and products in this state to determine the best practices and methods of providing such services, to determine what changes are needed to improve the provision of low THC oil and products, and to report any proposed legislative changes to the General Assembly each year; (10) To coordinate its activities with the Department of Public Health; (11) To employ an executive director and other staff and to establish duties and responsibilities of such persons; (12) To employ and manage consultants, as deemed necessary, in order to fulfill its duties and responsibilities under this article; (13) To review new treatment and delivery methods for low THC oil and products that may result from medical research and are not otherwise inconsistent with this article, and recommend statutory changes to the General Assembly to authorize such treatment and delivery methods and products; (14) To be responsible for the noncriminal enforcement of the provisions of this article and to have all of the necessary duties, power, and authority to carry out such responsibility; 179 16-12-204 (15) To be authorized to draft, adopt, amend, repeal, and enforce such rules and regulations as it deems necessary for the administration and enforcement of this article in the protection of public health, safety, and welfare; (16) To enforce qualifications for licensure; and (17) To levy fines for failure by a Class 1 production licensee, Class 2 production licensee, or dispensing licensee to operate in accordance with rules and regulations established by the commission within 14 days of written notice by the commission of specific violations. Such fines shall not exceed $25,000.00 for a first offense, $50,000.00 for a failure to remedy the offense within 60 days after written notice of a first offense, and $75,000.00 for subsequent failures to remedy noncompliance within 90 days after written notice of a first offense. Following a third written notice of a recurring violation, the commission may also order a licensee to cease operations for a period of up to 30 days to correct the violation. Any such fines or orders to cease operations shall be subject to Chapter 13 of Title 50, the “Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.” History. Code 1981, § 16-12-203, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 43, § 4/HB 324; Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 3/SB 195. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 28/SB 195, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to change, amend, or alter any criteria for applications for a Class 1 or Class 2 production license submitted to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission on or prior to January 27, 2021.” 16-12-204. Nontransferable designated university licenses to produce low THC oil and products; research and reporting of collected information; license revocation. (a) Upon request by a designated university, the commission shall issue nontransferable designated university licenses for the production of low THC oil and products. The licenses granted to designated universities pursuant to this Code section shall be in addition to any licenses issued pursuant to Part 2 of this article. The designated universities shall have the option to be licensed as a production facility, either separately or jointly. The designated universities shall be authorized to contract with private entities to fulfill the terms of the license, including contracting for the production of low THC oil and products. All contracts shall be approved by the commission. (b) Each designated university may conduct research on marijuana for therapeutic use if such university is licensed as a production facility pursuant to this Code section. Effective January 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the designated universities shall submit a report to the 180 16-12-204 OFFENSES/HEALTH & MORALS 16-12-204 Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the House Committee on Health and Human Services, to include data and outcomes of the research conducted pursuant to this paragraph. (c)(1) The commission shall collect the following information from each licensee: (A) The amount of low THC oil and products produced by the licensee during each calendar year; (B) The details of all production costs, including but not limited to seed, fertilizer, labor, advisory services, construction, and irrigation; (C) The details of any items or services for which the licensee subcontracted and the costs of each subcontractor directly or indirectly working for the licensee; (D) The amount of therapeutic chemicals produced resulting from the low THC oil and products manufactured pursuant to this article; (E) The amounts paid each year to the licensee related to the licensee’s production of low THC oil and products manufactured pursuant to this article; and (F) The amount of low THC oil and products distributed to each dispensing licensee to dispense low THC oil and products in this state during each calendar year. (2) The commission shall provide the information collected pursuant to this subsection for the previous calendar year in the form of a written report to the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the House Committee on Health and Human Services no later than February 1 of each year. The commission shall also make a copy of such report available to the public by posting such report on the commission’s website. (d) The commission may revoke the license of a designated university if it is found by the commission to have violated any of the requirements established pursuant to this article. History. Code 1981, § 16-12-204, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 43, § 4/HB 324; Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 4/SB 195. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 28/SB 195, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to change, amend, or alter any criteria for applications for a Class 1 or Class 2 production license submitted to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission on or prior to January 27, 2021.” 181 16-12-206 16-12-205. [Reserved] Role of Georgia universities; testing of specifications. History. Code 1981, § 16-12-205, enacted by Ga. L. 2019, p. 43, § 4/HB 324; repealed by Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 5/SB 195, effective July 1, 2021. Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 5/SB 195, repealed and reserved this Code section, effective July 1, 2021. Ga. L. 2021, p. 184, § 28/SB 195, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: “Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to change, amend, or alter any criteria for applications for a Class 1 or Class 2 production license submitted to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission on or prior to January 27, 2021.” 16-12-206. Annual, nontransferable dispensing license; adoption of rules; fees.