Before state lawmakers left early for the snow, a major milestone was reached for efforts to legalize medical marijuana.

Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) officially filed the bill that would allow cannabis oil to be used as treatment for seizure disorders, as parents with children suffering such conditions looked on.

"There's no guarantee of passage, but this is the first step in the journey," he told them.

But for Corey Low of Canton, it was a huge step for her 12-year-old daughter, Victoria, who suffers Mitochondrial disease.

"It's hope, really... from where we were three weeks ago; we never thought we would have so much support this quickly," she tells WSB's Sandra Parrish.

The bill would highly restrict the use of the drug which would be given orally.  It expands an existing state law passed in 1980 that allowed medical marijuana be used as part of clinical trials on cancer and glaucoma patients.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta become the second in the medical community to endorse the bill after the Medical Association of Georgia did so Monday.

In a statement, CHOA says it is supportive of an oral, oil-based derivative of CBD being made available in Georgia if it is only available as part of an Institutional Review Board-approved clinical study; there is sufficient control of the manufacture and distribution of the product by the state; and if measures of safety and effectiveness are established.

The bill will now be assigned to a House committee which will likely include public hearings on it.