It's autism awareness month and we wanted to shine light on some major changes that families who are facing autism may have.

Georgia Lawmakers have voted to expand access to medical marijuana by adding six new diagnoses to the list of qualifying conditions and autism is one of them.

News 3’s Ashley Lewis has a one on one with a local father who’s been fighting to get cannabis oil legalized for thousands of folks who have autism.

Dale Jackson has been at the state capital for years pushing for the legalization of cannabis oil.

Jackson says his son is now more vocal and he’s seen a huge change in his behavior.

Recently the Georgia House and Senate passed Senate Bill 16, which adds autism to the list of legal uses for cannabis oil.

Soon thousands of folks across the state of Georgia could have a legal treatment for autism.

Jackson said, “The more people who are on the registry, the better are chances of getting a ballot on the 2018 referendum for next session, so that state wide we can vote on it in 2018 to lead to a legitimate cultivation program so that  we can have oil being produced and processed right here in Georgia.”

Jackson says a cultivation program would give parents access to other parents just like him and it would be safer.

Jackson has developed a cannabis oil to treat his son’s autism called “Colin’s voice”.

He and the group of parents fighting to legalize the cannabis oil are not advocating for recreational marijuana use.

The bill now sits on the Governor’s desk waiting for his signature. Jackson says he’s hopeful that the governor will sign the bill into law.