Dear Fellow Georgian’s,

We are parents of children with Autism. We go thru each day with the heartache and pain of seeing our beloved having to struggle daily with this. Currently our children are taking synthetic Class II controlled substances along with other medications just to try and help them have a better quality of life. Most of these medications are for other medical conditions, as of today there is not a proven medicine that is specifically for Autism. With these medications, there are also unwanted side effects that we are left to contend with as well.

A few years ago, stories about desperate parents trying low THC cannabis oil to treat their child's severe, life threatening seizures started to surface. As more and more of these stories started to emerge, evidence started to show that medical cannabis could be an option for those who are suffering from seizure disorders. As more research has emerged, families with children with Crohn's, Cancer, Mitochondrial disease, Autism, and disorders involving severe, chronic pain have made life changing decisions to move their families across the country so that they can try to see if this is an option for their loved ones. For the majority of these families, they have seen very positive, quality of life improving results. This sparked Georgia families in 2013 to make steps to get legislation passed to gain access to medical cannabis in their home state so that they would not have to uproot their lives in order to save their children. While cannabis oil is now legal in the state of Georgia, the only access to it is still illegal. You say, what do you mean? If you or your child holds a medical cannabis card, you would have to go out of state to obtain the oil, thus that is a felony at this time due to it not being available in Georgia.

Think for a moment, you have a child or a family member that you see struggling each day, whether it is not being able to tell you what is wrong or how they are feeling or that they are having a melt down from that and for some that are non-verbal the only way they know how to express their feelings or emotions is thru becoming violent whether it is to themselves or others. They struggle to control what they can’t communicate. As a parent, wouldn’t you exhaust any and all options for your child? If you knew there was another option that was a natural herbal oil, free from toxin medication available, wouldn’t you want the opportunity to try it?

Therefore, we are asking for your support of HB 722.

We ask each of you to consider the potential for it to help the multitude of individuals and their parents, care takers or guardians in the state of Georgia to have a chance at a productive life. The majority of these individuals can’t speak on this important issue for themselves, therefore it is our right to speak for them.

Let us clarify, this is not to legalize cannabis for recreational use, this is to legalize the growth and use of it here in the State of Georgia for the potential benefit of SO many.

Georgia Legislators have the power to pass HB 722 for medical use only, and they have the power to keep it from becoming legal for recreational use. This is being debated at our capital in Atlanta over the next two months. We are sure your legislators would love to know your thoughts on it.

You can read HB 722 here, HERE

If after reading this and reading the bill you support this, we kindly ask if you would sign this.

Thank you and God Bless,

The Davis Family

The Boatwright Family

The Wilson Family

The Swofford Family

The Howell Family