The Georgia Senate adopted a measure Thursday that would ban drinks containing THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.
Senate Bill 254, which passed 42-14, originally intended to limit the amount of Delta-9 (a form of THC) per serving in gummies, tinctures and drinks. But an amendment on the Senate floor would ban all drinks with THC.
Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, sponsored the bill out of concern about the impairing effect of THC on driving and other activities.
“We are putting loaded guns in people’s hands in the form of a can or a gummy,” he said, “and we need to protect them.”
His bill originally limited the amount of Delta-9 to 10 milligrams per consumable, which, he noted, was roughly equivalent to four servings of alcohol.
SB 254 also limited the amount of Delta-9 in tincture and drinks, until Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, upped the ante with his amendment, saying Georgia was on a “bullet train” with marijuana consumption.
Robertson, the Senate majority whip, introduced his amendment to ban all beverages containing THC.
The amendment barely passed, 29-27, with several Republicans voting against it. The Senate chamber filled with chatter at the unexpected new trajectory for the bill. A maneuver to reconsider the motion failed, and then the Senate passed the amended bill with a large bipartisan majority.
Afterward, Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, II, D-Augusta, said he was stunned by what had just occurred and by the impact on companies that make beverages containing THC should SB 254 become law.
“It basically destroys a whole industry,” Jones said.
The legislation now moves to the Georgia House of Representatives.