Medical cannabis infused lotion is displayed inside a case at Trulieve in Macon, Ga. 

ATLANTA — The wait is over for many Georgians who have waited nearly a decade to legally purchase medical cannabis in the state.

As of April 28, the rocky battle toward bringing the medicine to shelves in Georgia ended with the opening of two medical marijuana dispensaries operated by Trulieve — one of them at 3556 Riverside Dr. in Macon and the other at 220 Cobb Parkway in Marietta.

Michelle Alligood and her husband, Kevis Battle, traveled 100 miles from Fitzgerald to the Macon medical marijuana dispensary April 29.

“I was so excited. On a scale of one to 10, I would say I’m 11,” Alligood said.

Alligood said she’s been wheelchair-bound her whole life. She explained that despite being administered the polio vaccine at 9 months old, she was diagnosed with the polio virus, which can infect a person’s spinal cord and cause paralysis to parts of the body.

For years, she said she’s made her own cannabis-related medications to treat her pain and anxiety, despite having the Georgia Low THC Oil card for four years.

She plans to continue traveling to dispensaries for proper medication, she said, while showing off her tincture and lotion purchased from the dispensary.

“With this, it’s more specific to what’s going on with you,” she said.

“It will help out a whole lot. I’m very happy,” Battle added.

Another customer at the Macon facility — a 37-year-old who did not want to be identified — said he’s been obtaining medical marijuana in the “black market.” He has a Georgia Low THC Oil Card to treat post traumatic stress disorder, which he said often triggers his attention-deficit disorder.

“Unfortunately, my employer still won’t allow this legal medicine that I’ve been secretly using,” he said.

He said he hoped that one day that employers would view medical cannabis as a “medicine” instead of an illegal drug.

In 2015, lawmakers approved the Low THC Oil Patient Registry in 2015, which allows Georgia patients to possess 20 fluid ounces of Low THC Oil within the state, though the medication was not available in the state.

Medical cannabis is allowed to be sold in non-smokable forms such as tinctures, topical creams, tincture drops and capsules, which are priced at approximately $40.

“There’s always a place for growth,” Andrey Mathurin, general manager of the Macon Trulieve. “And now we are going to be looking to add to our product list. But of course, we’re going to do as much as we can, legally, of course.”

Medical marijuana products are not covered by insurance and must be paid for out-of-pocket.

The Trulieve facility has an onsite security officer, and access into the showroom style dispensary requires a badged access. Access is only permitted to those with the THC card.

“Customers can tell us what they would like or let us know their conditions, and we can go from there to help them pick which product would best suit them,” Mathurin said.

As long as their THC card is active, customers can purchase as much product as they would like.

Mathurin said she was excited to be a part of Georgia’s first medical marijuana facility and what it means for patients in the state.

“Our first patient, she was very excited for her child. She has been advocating for him for eight years in Georgia,” Mathurin said. “And it’s some people that were saying they would have to move to another state to try to help their kid with using the products.”

The two Trulieve facilities will be open from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. seven days a week.

According to the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, since 2015 the Low-THC Oil Patient Registry has grown from 13,000 to more than 27,000 registered patients. That number is expected to grow as medical cannabis becomes more widely available.

Trulieve GA plans to open three more dispensaries in Columbus, Newnan and Pooler. Botanical Sciences LLC, which received two dispensary licenses April 26, plans to open locations in Pooler and Marietta.

In July 2021, the GMCC awarded the two companies Class I licenses, allowing growing, cultivating and manufacturing THC oil in an indoor space no more than 100,000 square feet.

The issuance of four Class II licenses — which allow up to 50,000 square feet of indoor space for growing, cultivating and manufacturing low level THC oil — are on hold due to temporary restraining orders issued after lawsuits from nine applicants that weren’t awarded licenses alleging unfair and inconsistent scoring by the Commission.

Nearly 20 conditions and diseases qualify for medical cannabis including cancer, seizure disorders, sickle cell, post-traumatic tree disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.

Patients and caregivers of patients who believe they may be eligible should consult with their physician about the possibility of obtaining a Low THC Oil Card.

If approved by the physician, the patient and/or patient’s caregivers’ information will be entered into Georgia Department of Public Health’s “Low THC Oil Registry” and a Low THC Oil Card will be issued to the patient and/or caregiver, according to DPH.