Georgia’s Low-THC Oil Medical Cannabis Program: Card, Limits, and Law

Georgia’s low-THC oil program lets patients with certain serious diagnoses legally possess and use a cannabis oil that contains cannabidiol and no more than 5% THC. It was created by the Haleigh’s Hope Act and is run by the Department of Public Health. To join, you need a physician certification for one of 16 qualifying conditions, a notarized waiver, and a Low THC Oil Patient Registry card. The card costs $30 and is valid for five years.

Who Qualifies

Georgia law lists 16 specific diagnoses. Some qualify at any stage; others only qualify with a “severe” or “end-stage” designation from your physician. The Department of Public Health will reject a certification that doesn’t match the severity the statute requires for that condition.

Qualifying at any stage:

Crohn’s disease
Mitochondrial disease
Epidermolysis bullosa
Seizure disorders related to epilepsy or trauma-related head injuries
Intractable pain

Qualifying only when severe or end-stage:

Cancer (end-stage, or when treatment causes severe nausea or wasting)
ALS
Multiple sclerosis
Parkinson’s disease
Sickle cell disease
Alzheimer’s disease
AIDS
Peripheral neuropathy
Tourette’s syndrome (severe only)

Two conditions have age rules. Autism spectrum disorder qualifies adults 18 and older at any severity; a minor must have a severe autism diagnosis. Post-traumatic stress disorder qualifies only patients 18 and older, and the trauma must come from direct exposure to or witnessing a traumatic event.¹

Patients in an inpatient or outpatient hospice program also qualify even if their underlying condition isn’t one of the 16 listed diagnoses, provided a physician authorizes low-THC oil as part of treatment.¹

What Low-THC Oil Actually Covers

Georgia defines low-THC oil as an oil containing CBD and no more than 5% tetrahydrocannabinol by weight. It cannot contain visible plant material, and every bottle sold through a licensed dispensary must be in a pharmaceutical container labeled with the THC percentage.²

The program does not cover smokable flower, edibles, infused foods, concentrated waxes, or any product containing raw cannabis plant material. Possessing marijuana in those forms remains a felony under Georgia’s controlled substances law, carrying one to ten years in prison whether or not you hold a registry card.³

How to Get a Registry Card

Physician Certification

The process starts with a Georgia-licensed physician who is actively treating you for a qualifying condition. Your doctor completes a Physician Certification Form confirming your diagnosis, the severity classification when required, and the medical judgment that low-THC oil is an appropriate treatment. The physician attests that they have reviewed your medical history, assessed your current condition, and either performed or reviewed the diagnostic tests supporting the diagnosis.⁴

Waiver and ID

You also complete a notarized waiver. By signing, you acknowledge that cannabinoid and THC-containing products have not been approved by the FDA, that the clinical benefits are unknown, and that use could cause harm. You also waive claims against your physician and the State of Georgia related to the treatment.⁵

Along with the waiver, you provide valid identification: a driver’s license, state-issued ID, passport, or military ID. The legal name on your application must match the name on your ID. The waiver and ID go to your physician, who submits everything to the Department of Public Health.

Fee and Delivery

The card costs $30 and is not covered by health insurance. Paying through the DPH’s online portal adds a $3.75 service fee. Allow up to 10 business days after payment for the card to arrive.⁵

Cards ship via UPS to the mailing address on file and require a signature at delivery. If you don’t have a permanent home address or you use a P.O. Box, your card ships instead to the nearest of 43 health department locations across the state, where you or a designated person can pick it up with valid ID.⁵

Renewal

Your card is valid for five years from the date your payment is processed, with the expiration printed on the front. Renewal follows the same certification steps as the initial application, so plan to see your physician again before your card expires.⁵

Caregivers and Minor Patients

A caregiver under Georgia law is the parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a patient under 18, or the legal guardian of an adult patient. Caregivers receive their own registry cards and can legally possess and transport the oil on the patient’s behalf. If more than one person regularly cares for a patient, each caregiver can apply separately at $30 per card.¹

Caregivers complete the same waiver and identification steps and receive cards valid for five years, assuming the patient remains eligible.⁵ For minors, most listed conditions apply at any age, but autism spectrum disorder requires a severe diagnosis, and PTSD does not qualify anyone under 18.

What Your Card Lets You Do

With a valid card, you can possess up to 20 fluid ounces of low-THC oil. The oil must be in a labeled pharmaceutical container showing its THC percentage. Carrying oil without your card on you, even if you’re registered, leaves you without a legal defense during a law enforcement encounter; officers verify status by checking your card against the state database.²

Possessing 20 ounces or less without a valid registration is a misdemeanor. Exceeding 20 ounces, even with a card, or manufacturing, selling, or distributing low-THC oil is a felony punishable by one to ten years in prison and fines up to $50,000.²

No home cultivation is allowed. There is no exemption for registered patients, and growing any amount of marijuana falls under Georgia’s general drug trafficking and manufacturing penalties.³

Sharing is also off-limits. Giving your oil to someone else, even another registered patient, is a felony. Only licensed dispensaries can legally distribute low-THC oil, and a patient who sells or shares their supply faces the same one-to-ten-year sentence and up to $50,000 in fines as an unlicensed distributor.²

Where to Buy It

The Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission oversees production and dispensing licenses. Only licensed dispensaries can legally sell low-THC oil to registered patients. As of early 2026, two operators are active in Georgia: Trulieve and Botanical Sciences. Four additional licensees have been awarded but are still working toward opening retail locations. Dispensary locations are posted on the Commission’s website as they open.⁶

Depending on where you live, the nearest dispensary may be a long drive. There are no legal alternatives. Online purchases from out-of-state companies, unlicensed sellers, and products bought in another state’s dispensaries are all illegal to bring into Georgia.

Driving With Low-THC Oil

Georgia’s DUI law includes a provision for drugs that a person is “legally entitled to use,” and this is where the card actually offers protection. Under the general rule, having any amount of marijuana or its metabolites in your blood or urine while driving is a per se DUI. For someone legally authorized to use a drug, the standard shifts: you violate the law only if the drug renders you incapable of driving safely.⁷

In practice, a positive THC test at a traffic stop doesn’t automatically equal a DUI conviction for registered patients, but proving you were driving safely is your burden. Officers can still arrest you if they observe impaired driving. Keep your card easily accessible during any traffic encounter.

Traveling With the Card

Georgia has no reciprocity agreements with other states, so a Georgia card is not required to be honored elsewhere. Before traveling with low-THC oil, check whether your destination state recognizes out-of-state medical cannabis registrations.

Coming the other way, Georgia offers narrow recognition to visitors with valid out-of-state registration cards, but only if two conditions are met: the other state’s law permits the same type of low-THC oil possession Georgia allows, and the visitor has been in Georgia fewer than 45 days.⁸ After 45 days, an out-of-state card provides no legal protection.²

Flying introduces federal jurisdiction. TSA officers are not specifically looking for drugs during screening, but if they discover a substance they believe is illegal, they will refer the matter to law enforcement. Cannabis in any form is federally illegal, and TSA operates under federal authority.⁹

Federal Law Consequences the Card Does Not Cover

A Georgia registry card protects you from state prosecution and nothing else. Cannabis is still a Schedule I controlled substance federally, and that conflict shows up in three areas most patients don’t consider until it hurts them.

Employment

Georgia does not prohibit employers from terminating workers who test positive for marijuana, even if the worker holds a valid registry card. State agency guidance is explicit: employees can be terminated for a positive test regardless of registration status. Agencies receiving federal funding or employing workers in Department of Transportation safety-sensitive positions must terminate employees who test positive, and many other employers maintain zero-tolerance drug-free workplace policies.¹⁰

Registered patients have no ADA protection specific to medical cannabis use in the workplace. Employers are not required to accommodate use, allow it on workplace property including parking lots, or exempt registered patients from random drug testing.¹⁰

Federally Assisted Housing

HUD prohibits admission of marijuana users to public housing and Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) programs, regardless of state medical cannabis laws. The policy rests on the Controlled Substances Act and the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act, which require housing authorities to deny admission based on illegal use of controlled substances. HUD has stated it lacks discretion to admit medical marijuana users absent a change in federal law. Existing tenants can also face termination of their tenancy if the housing authority determines they are using marijuana.¹¹

Firearms

Federal law prohibits anyone who is an “unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance” from possessing firearms or ammunition.¹² Because cannabis is still Schedule I federally, regular users of medical cannabis fit this definition even when their use is legal under state law. A January 2026 ATF rule narrowed the regulatory definition to require evidence of regular, ongoing use rather than a single positive test or arrest, but that change primarily helps people with an isolated past incident. If you are a registered patient who regularly uses low-THC oil, federal law still treats you as a prohibited person for firearm purchases and possession.¹³

1
Justia Law. Georgia Code 31-2A-18 – Low THC Oil Patient Registry
2
Justia Law. Georgia Code 16-12-191 – Possession, Manufacture, Distribution, or Sale of Low THC Oil; Penalties
3
Justia Law. Georgia Code 16-13-30 – Purchase, Possession, Manufacture, Distribution, or Sale of Controlled Substances or Marijuana; Penalties
4
Georgia Department of Public Health. Low THC Oil Physician Certification Information
5
Georgia Department of Public Health. Low THC Oil Information for Patients and Caregivers
6
Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. Dispensaries
7
Justia Law. Georgia Code 40-6-391 – Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol, Drugs, or Other Intoxicating Substances
8
Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission. Frequently Asked Questions
9
Transportation Security Administration. What Can I Bring – Medical Marijuana
10
Georgia Department of Administrative Services. Medical Marijuana FAQ
11
HUD Exchange. Can a Public Housing Agency Make a Reasonable Accommodation for Medical Marijuana
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
13
Federal Register. Revising Definition of Unlawful User of or Addicted to Controlled Substance