Marlo Smith used to have up to 30 seizures a day. Now she's down to roughly one seizure every two or three days.

The improvement in the youngster's condition came after she, her mother and siblings moved from Georgia to Colorado.

Colorado has relaxed its laws against marijuana use, and has drawn many families from other states seeking medical cannabis treatment. Marlo, 7, is receiving three doses a day of cannabis oil there.

Marlo's father, Dr. James Smith, is still in Georgia, living apart from his family and continuing his work as an emergency physician at Gwinnett Medical Center.

But if a Georgia House bill to legalize medical marijuana is approved in next year's General Assembly, the Smiths could be reunited and resume their normal family life in metro Atlanta.

"I get to have my family back," Dr. Smith said last week concerning possible passage of the bill. "It'd be Christmas."

State Rep. Allen Peake introduced James and Courtney Smith at a state Capitol news conference on Wednesday focused on his bill to make medical marijuana legal in Georgia. Peake, a Macon Republican, said the Smiths are among at least 17 Georgia families living in Colorado so they can have access to medical marijuana.

Peake led the charge in the 2014 General Assembly session for medical marijuana, but his measure ultimately collapsed in the Legislature's final hours.

Marijuana legalization is a complex, controversial subject. Some states that have legalized medical marijuana, such as Colorado, have also legalized recreational pot.

But many medical marijuana advocates strongly oppose allowing recreational use and say it's a totally different issue. Meanwhile, federal laws against marijuana remain on the books, although they are not currently being zealously enforced against medical users.

Smith is hopeful the Georgia medical marijuana bill will pass this time around.

"Our goal is to come up with the best medical cannabis legislation in the country," he said.

Peake said that under his proposal the cannabis would be grown in Georgia. It would be available for other diagnoses besides children's seizure disorders. Those could include multiple sclerosis, ALS, Crohn's disease, autism, cancer, glaucoma and chronic pain.

Peake's bill would allow a limited number of licensees to grow, manufacture and distribute medical marijuana in Georgia. Use would be restricted to medicine that's a liquid, pill or injection. He added that he hoped that the oil could be available for patients within a year of the governor signing a legalization bill.

Smokable marijuana would not be allowed.

Only registered patients would have access to the treatment, and it would only be dispensed by licensed entities within the state. The bill would also decriminalize the possession of medical cannabis oil in Georgia for those patients who legally obtained the medicine in another state.

But other testimony sounded alarms about passing a bill in Georgia.

Rick Allen of the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency noted the federal stance remains that cannabis is a Schedule 1 controlled substance, and as such, cannot be prescribed.

Smith said the oil his daughter takes is very low in THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Though his family could afford to make the move to Colorado, Smith said that "for many Georgia families, this is not an option." He urges lawmakers to create a solution to help those families and their suffering loved ones.

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