ATLANTA (November 17, 2014) | Sen. Renee Unterman (R – Buford) toured state-of-the-art medical facilities with Sen. Dean Burke (R – Bainbridge) and Rep. Micah Gravley (R – Douglasville) prior to a meeting of the Joint Study Committee on Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions on November 12 in Augusta. The three legislators, who are also members of the joint study committee, were given an up-close-and-personal look at the operations of the Joseph M. Still Burn Center and the Children’s Hospital of Georgia.
“I greatly appreciate the staff members and medical professionals who took the time to show us how our work on this committee directly affects its patients and their families. It is my hope that the work performed by this committee will benefit and enhance the services these two superb medical facilities provide,” said Sen. Unterman, co-chair of the Joint Study Committee on Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions.
Sen. Unterman, Sen. Burke and Rep. Gravley started the morning at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center, a 70-bed facility with partner facilities in Charleston, SC; Valdosta, GA; Austell, GA; Miami, FL; and Jackson, MS. The Augusta center is one of only 125 burn centers in the United States, as well as one of the largest. The tour featured the center’s outpatient clinic, intensive care unit, emergency burn center receiving room and an operating suite. Information about the center’s burn education initiatives was also shared during the tour.
The legislators then traveled to the Children’s Hospital of Georgia to visit the facility’s epilepsy monitoring unit. The unit features six beds and treats all spectrums of epilepsy. The trio met with a neurologist and previewed the lab suite where Georgia Regents University will conduct clinical trials on cannabis-derived oil to treat childhood seizures.
The Joint Study Committee on Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions was created through SR 981following the 2014 legislative session. The joint study committee has spent the past several months studying the effects of cannabis oil on seizure disorders and will ultimately determine if it is appropriate to draft legislation allowing the prescription of medical cannabis.
The final meeting of the Joint Study Committee on Prescription of Medical Cannabis for Serious Medical Conditions will be held on Wednesday, December 3, at the Georgia State Capitol.
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For Immediate Release:
November 17, 2014
For Information Contact:
Jennifer Yarber, Director
Jennifer.yarber@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028