Two major medical cannabis companies—Trulieve, and Curaleaf—are registered to lobby in Georgia, Cannabis Wire has learned.
According to state lobbying disclosures, Trulieve was lobbying in the state early this year as legislators worked to pass a bill to allow the production and distribution of low THC medical cannabis.
Five lobbyists from the Georgia-based firm, Troutman Sanders LLP, registered to lobby on behalf of Trulieve at the end of February, two weeks after the bill—HB 324—was introduced. One of the lobbyists, Matthew Ralston, is the son of Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, who supported the bill.
Georgia-based Surterra Holdings, which has been an active player in the state’s push to expand medical cannabis access, also lobbied as HB 324 was being considered by Georgia’s legislature. McGuireWoods Consulting, a national lobbying firm, registered to lobby for the company in August last year.
Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp signed the bill in April. The state, which has close to 9,500 medical cannabis patients, had legalized cannabis oil (less than 5 percent THC) for certain medical conditions back in 2015, but had made no provisions for manufacturing and distributing the products in-state.
Curaleaf, meanwhile, registered to lobby in the state in mid-June of this year, two months after the close of Georgia’s 2019 legislative session. The company hired the Washington D.C-. based firm, Cornerstone Government Affairs, to lobby on its behalf. Curaleaf’s Vice President of Government Relations Matthew Harrell is also listed as a lobbyist for the company.
