One of the nation’s largest cannabis retailers is opening its fifth Georgia store Saturday in Columbia County. 

Trulieve is at 4218 Washington Road in Evans, in Unit 1 of a new commercial strip sitting opposite the shopping center anchored by Academy Sports.  

“It is a much safer prescription and a way to reduce your pain, support whatever your ailments might be,” said Tim Morey, Trulieve’s chief sales officer. “There are a lot of parts of the cannabis pant that can help you, and its natural.” 

In mapping its Georgia expansion, Trulieve found the Augusta area to be a prime location for the chain’s target demographics, Morey said — “a lot off 55-plus communities, a lot of retired military, which are a lot of the individuals who utilize cannabis.” 

The moral stigma traditionally against cannabis seems to be fading. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2022 found nearly 60% of Americans approve of legalizing cannabis for both medical and recreational use. 

Every customer wishing to purchase products from the Evans Trulieve must have a low-THC-oil identification card issued by the Georgia Department of Public Health. When Trulieve officially opens at 10 a.m. Sept. 23, physicians onsite will be able to certify card applicants and conduct consultations to determine the best product for a particular ailment. 

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The state of Georgia recognizes 14 medical conditions that allow eligibility for a card: 

• cancer, when diagnosed as end stage or treatment produces wasting illness or recalcitrant nausea and vomiting;   
• amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• seizure disorders related to a diagnosis of epilepsy or trauma-related head injuries;   
• multiple sclerosis, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• Crohn’s disease;   
• mitochondrial disease;   
• Parkinson’s disease, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• sickle cell disease, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• Tourette’s syndrome, when diagnosed as severe;   
• autism spectrum disorder, when diagnosed for a patient who is at least 18 years old, or severe autism, when diagnosed for a patient who is less than 18 years old;   
• epidermolysis bullosa;   
• Alzheimer’s disease, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• AIDS, when diagnosed as severe or end stage;   
• peripheral neuropathy, when symptoms are diagnosed as severe or end stage. 

Trulieve was one of the first two cannabis dispensaries to be granted a license by the state of Georgia to sell medicinal products containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other compounds found in the cannabis plant. 

The store’s products are markedly different from the THC- and CBD-labeled products on display at many convenience stores. Trulieve products derive their ingredients from the cannabis plant, while nonlicensed over-the-counter products typically rely on the hemp plant, “so you don’t get the same effects and you don’t get the same benefits,” Morey said. 

Trulieve’s Evans store won’t offer any smokable products, but will offer THC-infused capsules, topical creams, tinctured drops and tinctured lozenges. 

Scott Dorn of Augusta dropped by the store Friday thinking it was already open. Dorn, a state cardholder, prefers THC products to help manage chronic pain after undergoing several back and leg surgeries. Also, his right arm is amputated above the elbow. 

Dorn has been driving more than four hours round-trip from Augusta to Pooler, near Savannah, to buy products from the recently opened Trulieve store there. With a closer store, “Oh, I’m in heaven now,” he said. 

“I don’t want to be on the medicines because you can get hooked on them. With this, you don’t get hooked on nothing,” Dorn said. “It’s just natural. It’s what God put it on Earth for. It does better (for) me than any pharmaceutical that I could ever get.”