Georgia law enforcement officials said Wednesday that any expansion of medical marijuana in Georgia will need extensive regulations to protect patients and to be sure the system isn’t exploited.

GBI Director Vernon Keenan and others said if the state makes marijuana broadly available for medical reasons it should mirror federal pharmaceutical law that requires extensive testing and monitoring of controlled substances.

Keenan and leaders of the state sheriffs’ association told members of a special commission studying the issue that doing otherwise will lead to abuse.

“There’s already standards in place from the Drug Enforcement Administration that regulate pharmacies,” Keenan said, “and gives the elements for restrictions and way to do business. It would be my position why would we deviate from the DEA regulations already in place?”

Georgia lawmakers this year legalized the use of a particular kind of oil derived from marijuana by patients with a limited number of diseases. But patients accepted into the program must arrange their own way of obtaining the drug, which is not sold in Georgia. Many travel to other states and risk arrest for transporting the the oil back to Georgia. [Read more from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution]