State lawmakers could be close to deal over medical marijuana. On Thursday, a state Senate committee passed a compromise bill that would decriminalize cannabis oil for thousands of Georgians.

Before Thursday, the Senate and House were far apart on medical marijuana. The original bill passing the Senate would have only expanded clinical trials of cannabis oil for children with seizure disorders. But on Thursday, a Senate committee passed a version that also legalizes the use of the oil for Georgians with eight medical conditions.

The version passed by the House had nine.

After two years of pushing for a medical marijuana legislation, Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, is elated by how close the two bills are at this point.

“This is a giant leap, and we’re almost there,” Peake said. “In fact, we may be there.”

Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, was behind the compromise.

“I think we have successfully accomplished what we wanted to do in putting these two pieces together,” Unterman said.

But the bill doesn’t include fibromyalgia. Senators in favor of keeping it out say fibromyalgia is too hard to diagnose, and it may prevent the bill from gaining final passage. It’s something Peake hopes is added back in once the full Senate takes up the compromise.

Before approving the bill, committee members heard from several families who’ve left the state so their children can have access to the oil.

Vince Sievert’s daughter has epilepsy. She now lives in Colorado where it’s legal.

“She’s gone 26 days seizure free,” Sievert said.

But several physicians like Dr. Paul Earley warned legalizing the oil will lead to abuse.

“Any legislation that brings more THC into our state is simply fueling the fire for more addiction problems in Georgia,” Early said.

The bill limits the THC content in the oil to 5 percent. It also says there would have to be a matching amount of cannabidiol, which is a non-psychoactive extract of marijuana that supporters say contains therapeutic benefits.

However, the oil won’t be produced in Georgia. Instead, residents would have to get the cannabis oil from other states, and they would need a recommendation from a doctor. They would also be required to register with the state’s health department.

The legislation says those with conditions like Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis would have to be near death or have severe symptoms to get the oil. Meanwhile, residents with cancer would have to be dying, severely ill, or have symptoms like nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy or other cancer treatments.

It also decriminalizes the oil for those seizure disorders who have been diagnosed with epilepsy or residents with trauma related head injuries. Crohn’s disease and mitochondrial disease are also included in the legislation.

The bill requires those gaining the immunity to be a Georgia resident for at least a year. However, that doesn’t apply to children under 12 months of age.

The committee also carved out an exception to the one-year residency requirement for Georgians who have moved to other states to gain access to the cannabis oil.