It’s fair to say that in Atlanta, Georgia, the fight for medical marijuana never had a chance. When the governor makes a point of bullying legislators into killing marijuana cultivation, there’s not much anyone can do.

An NBC poll which showed that the majority of Georgians want medical cannabis to be grown legally in their state. Those in power have other plans, however.

That wide public support fueled a legislative assembly to propose a bill allowing the cultivation of medical cannabis. But newly released emails between the governor’s office and the representative behind the legislation shows how the bill never stood a chance at being passed.

The emails came directly from the governor’s office. All 268 pages of emails were obtained through an open records request.

The emails were sent between Macon Representative Allen Peake and Gov. Nathan Deal’s office between November of 2015 and March of 2016. Peake is the legislator directly behind medical marijuana legislation in Georgia,

Peake is known as “The Godfather” inside the medical marijuana community. It’s a title he’s earned through his relentless pursuit of legalized cannabis. He has been committed to obtaining legal cannabis oil for a small group of Georgia patients since 2015.

The timeline of emails starts in November 2015 with a fact-finding trip to Colorado that was organized by Peake. Taking legislators into the capitol of legal marijuana in America has been a useful tactic employed by legal cannabis advocates.

On that trip, top members of Deal’s staff and Georgia’s top law enforcement officials got a behind the scenes look at the marijuana industry.

In email exchanges between the group following that trip, the words “nightmare”, “mess”, and “slippery slope” were used to express their concerns about legal medical cannabis.

In an email dated November 16, Ryan Teague, the governor’s executive counsel said, “Need to shut down the other trips. Governor not supportive of any further trips on this issue.”

Peake replied the next day and said he would visit on his own and, “I hope we won’t let law enforcement’s fear stop us from doing something good for our citizens.”

Further emails from Riley to Peake, however, reveal that the governor’s mind was already made up. The governer had decided against legal cultivation a month before the Georgia Commission on Medical Cannabis had its final meeting.

At their last meeting on Dec. 9, the commission’s members voted against recommending in state cultivation to the governor, killing marijuana cultivation dead.

(Photo Credit: Cmgajcpolitics)