MARIETTA, Ga. — Medical marijuana has been available in Georgia for a little more than a month, and now the almost 30,000 people in the state with a medical cannabis card will be able to get the drug in a new form.
Trulieve is the only dispensary in Georgia to sell medical cannabis as a nasal spray. It's already helping patients with a variety of conditions.
Trulieve's Marietta dispensary may look typical from the outside, but inside the showroom, Georgians with a medical cannabis card now have a new way to receive their medicine.
“Our nasal spray is medical-grade THC. It’s going to be a fast-acting delivery system," said Cody Moungahoune, inventory manager with Trulieve Marietta.
The nasal spray is primarily designed to help people having seizures, but it can help those with other conditions as well, such as Parkinson's disease and cancer.
“If they have MS [multiple sclerosis], and they shake a lot or have chronic pain, that kind of thing, but it’s onset by an episode," Moungahoune said.
The drug takes effect faster than low THC oil, but the effects don't last as long.
“It takes about 15 minutes and lasts about an hour... hour and a half," Moungahoune said. "The oils are going to take 30-45 minutes and those last anywhere between three to four hours, and if you ate something fatty that day, it might last five to six.”
Dale Jackson's 15-year-old son uses medical marijuana for his autism, and the father testified in front of state lawmakers before the drug was legal.
“It has been a really a life-changing event because now he actually sleeps," he said.
Jackson is thrilled the nasal spray is now available in Georgia for patients who use medical marijuana, but he would like to see more companies sell the product in the future.
“The sooner that we have more companies open and available, the sooner that different formulas are going to become available," Jackson said. "It's great to have new technology like the nasal spray and a variety of other things to ingest into our system.”
“If it’s not hurting them, and it’s not hurting anybody around them, I think we should have more of it," Moungahoune said.
The nasal spray costs $120. It sprays 300 times-- at five milligrams of medicine in each pump.
Click here for a list of the conditions qualifying for Georgia's Low THC Oil Registry.