( CNN ) The Coxes can rest more comfortably living in Georgia now that their 5-year-old daughter can get the marijuana extract she needs . `` This means the world to us , '' said Haleigh Cox 's mother , Janea Cox . Gov . Nathan Deal signed a bill Thursday that will legalize low-THC cannabis oil for certain `` medication-resistant epilepsies , '' while creating an infrastructure , registration process and research program for the drug . ( THC is the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana . ) The bill is dubbed Haleigh 's Hope Act . Haleigh , who has been the face of the bill , was having hundreds of seizures a day and the five potent drugs meant to control them were n't making life better for the little girl . Janea Cox said in a March 2014 interview that she made the difficult decision to move her daughter to Colorado , where medical marijuana is legal , in hopes of saving her life . `` She was maxed out , '' Cox said . `` She 'd quit breathing several times a day , and the doctors blamed it on the seizure medications . '' 10 diseases marijuana could affect . Cox had heard that a form of medical marijuana might help , but it was n't available in Georgia . So a week after hearing a doctor 's diagnosis that Haleigh might not live another three months , she and Haleigh packed up and moved to Colorado Springs , Colorado . There , Haleigh began a regimen of cannabis oil : four times a day and once at night . `` Every time she smiled I knew we did the right thing , because we had n't seen her smile in three years , '' Cox said . `` Now she 's thriving , she 's healthy , she 's happy , and they 're absolutely shocked at the difference . So I think we 've turned some nonbelievers into believers of cannabis oil . '' Deal is apparently one of those believers , signing HB1 on Thursday and opening the door for the use of cannabis oil to treat certain medical conditions . The bill will benefit not only people who suffer from chronic seizure disorders , but it also will allow patients to receive in-state treatment . To obtain a license in Georgia , you will need to have a specific covered condition , such as acute seizures . `` For the families enduring separation and patients suffering pain , the wait is finally over , '' Deal said Thursday . `` ... Now , Georgia children and their families may return home while continuing to receive much-needed care . '' For Cox , it 's a blessing `` to be able to come back home , and with Haleigh 's medicine , it 's done wonders for her -- going from 200-plus seizures a day and on her deathbed to a smiling , happy girl who says words now and looks us in the eye and lets us know she 's in there . '' She added , `` Colorado has been good to us , but Georgia 's home . Georgia 's definitely home . '' With medical marijuana legal in nearly half the states , doctors are increasingly studying what effect the drug has on various ailments . While Georgia 's law is specific to a handful of conditions , medical marijuana laws in states such as California permit marijuana use for an array of ailments . But as states rewrite their regulations , federal law remains the same : Marijuana is illegal to grow , sell or use for any purpose . Under the Controlled Substances Act , marijuana is listed on Schedule 1 , meaning it has `` no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse . '' To backers of reform , it presents a Catch-22 : Marijuana is restricted , in large part , because there is scant research to support medical uses , yet research is difficult to conduct because of tight restrictions .
Georgia Gov . Nathan Deal signs a medical marijuana bill . The bill is inspired by Haleigh Cox , a 5-year-old whose seizures threatened her life .