ATLANTA -- Cannabis oil is working for the 2-year-old Winder girl 11Alive has been following through her journey, and it was never more evident than during a recent therapy session.

"How do you feel? You look awesome," said Lainey Cleveland's therapist.

Smiling is monumental, a laugh is life changing, and standing -- well, that's a dream that suddenly feels real for Erin Cleveland and her daughter Lainey.

"It's like she's coming alive," Cleveland said.

Lainey recently went through an intense 10-day therapy session, and 11Alive was there on the continuation of the journey following this family.

The state of Georgia has been scrambling to figure out a way to lay the groundwork of a newly legalized industry overnight. 

One California grower told a state commission on Wednesday that 25 acres — or one million square feet — would be enough space to produce all of the medical marijuana needed to treat Georgia patients.

The Commission on Medical Cannabis faces the demanding task of deciding how to lay down the infrastructure for the state’s medical marijuana industry. The most contentious issue to date is how to structure and regulate the oil’s cultivation and production.

Public health officials reported nearly 200 patients have now qualified for Georgia's new medical marijuana registry, with an uptick in the number of doctors now approved to recommend cannabis oil as a treatment.

The updates given Wednesday to the state Commission on Medical Cannabis come as patients, families and doctors continue to grapple with issues about the oil and how it works, including how to dose it or how to buy or obtain it.

That includes concerns by some physicians that the oil is, in effect, experimental and not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration. Others are worried about liability should they register with the state to confirm patients are eligible to use medical marijuana in Georgia.

J-Bo Wages of Dallas, Ga., kisses his 12-year-old daughter, Sydney, who suffers from intractable seizures and uses cannabis oil as a treatment, during her favorite activity riding on the family four-wheeler. The Wages family was among the very first to receive permission from the state to use low-dose cannabis oil without fear of prosecution.

As of last week, more than 130 patients have qualified for Georgia’s new medical marijuana registry after its first 50 days of business.

Instate cultivation is still illegal, and that poses a big dilemma for patients

Daniel Macris stands in the sunshine of the Sierra Nevada foothills in Northern California, dangling a fresh marijuana plant from his latex-gloved fingers. It’s a brilliant day in May. With tiny scissors, he snips off the leaves, keeping just the flowers—gnarled little mats of purple and gray-green filament coated in tiny white orbs, which contain all of the chemical compounds that we associate with the plant. Typically that’s tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psycho-active substance that produces a high. 

ATLANTA — A Georgia state representative has renewed her fight to expand Georgia’s medical marijuana law after her own breast cancer diagnosis.

Erin Cleveland continues the journey to improving her 2-year-old daughter Lainey's life.

Lainey Cleveland suffers from severe seizures(Photo: Hopper, Christopher)

ATLANTA -- A metro Atlanta mother is a few giant steps closer to seeing if now legal medical marijuana will help her 2-year-old daughter.

11Alive is following Erin Cleveland on her journey to getting cannabis oil for her daughter Lainey who suffers from severe seizures.

11Alive first told you about their journey back in June. Since then, Lainey's doctor signed off on her medical marijuana registration card, which officially became legal in Georgia this year.

"Oh it's huge," said Erin Cleveland, Lainey's mom.

This Sunday, July 26, from 9 am to 7 pm, at the Hampton Inn Atlanta Airport, 1888 Sullivan Road, College Park, GA, Cannabis Career Institute will be hosting a business seminar about the cannabis industry.

Cannabis Career Institute offers state-specific training courses that address a range of topics – from legal requirements and regulations to basic grow techniques. The class will be led by Doug Porter, the Cannabis Career Institute expert in Bud-Tending, Dispensary Management, Delivery Service and Security.

Reporting the results of a nationwide study, researchers from the University of Georgia School of Social Work have identified a common factor that greatly increases the likelihood of prescription drug misuse. Regardless of age or other sociodemographic characteristic, people with a history of illicit substance use, such as marijuana, cocaine, or heroin, are all at substantially higher risk for prescription pain reliever abuse. The findings provide support for conclusions reached recently in a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control that heroin use correlated positively with cocaine or opioid medication abuse. The findings, published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, may help healthcare providers and others curb painkiller misuse.

WINDER--11Alive is following a Winder mother on her journey to save her two-year-old daughter's life.

Erin Cleveland's daughter Lainey suffers from a number of health issues including seizures.

Lainey started having seizures at 3-months-old, and now at 2-years-old she is severely delayed, unable to talk, walk, or eat on her own.

"She's two-years-old and she can't sit up on her own she's just now learning to hold her head up, just now starting to grab things," said Erin Cleveland, Lainey's mother.

Erin has tried medicine, but she said it doesn't work.

She is now pursuing a Georgia medical marijuana registration card and ultimately cannabis oil for Lainey.