Smuggling Cannabis

Georgia families in need of medicinal cannabis have a Robin Hood-like hero willing to illegally smuggle cannabis into the state for them. That hero: State Representative Allen Peake.

Local news sources in the Peach State have quoted Peake as admitting to illegally bringing marijuana into Georgia so families who need medicinal pot can have access to it.

“We made sure that families properly registered with the state got access to medical cannabis, including delivering it to them if that’s the only way we can make that happen,” Peake said.

“Maybe at some point there is a need for civil disobedience. It comes down to, ‘What would I do if it were my child?'” Peake has been hailed as “the godfather of the medical marijuana movement in Georgia.”

After the state legalized medical marijuana at the end of 2015, there were 465 patients registered to begin using the drug at the beginning of January.

But so far, it’s been slow going, with many patients still unable to access the cannabis they need. That’s why Peake has taken matters into his own hands, traveling out of state to obtain cannabis which he then brings back to families in Georgia who need it.

“It’s worth that risk to see the improvement in the quality of life for these children,” Peake said. “And I’d do it again tomorrow if I had to.”

Earlier this year, Peake introduced a bill to Georgia lawmakers that would significantly expand the scope of the state’s new medicinal cannabis laws.

According to the Macon, Georgia-based Telegraph, Peake’s new bill would allow people with any of 17 diagnoses to qualify for medical pot, it would “issue up to six licenses for medical cannabis cultivators in Georgia” to grow pot, and it would allow patients to own certain types of liquid cannabis. While many in the cannabis community see Peake’s work as productive—even heroic—steps toward getting rid of harmful prohibition laws, it has also, not surprisingly, created many opponents as well.