In an effort to increase the number of qualifying conditions eligible for the prescription of medical marijuana, the Ohio Medical Board said it will accept new petitions for review through the end of the year.
According to the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program, there are currently 21 qualifying medical conditions.
The website Cleveland.com reported that the board’s official position is that once a condition is added to the list of approved conditions, it can’t be removed, according to board spokeswoman Tessie Pollock.
The board said that petitions will be reviewed early next year, and that the board will have an open public comment period after it meets on Jan. 8, 2020.
Executive Director Stephanie Louka said any final decisions regarding the acceptance of new medical conditions as qualifying conditions will come several months after the early January meeting.
The medical board rejected petitions submitted earlier this year that sought to add anxiety and autism spectrum disorders as qualifying conditions.
Ohio’s medical marijuana law was passed in 2016 and signed by former Gov. John Kasich, and Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner said the law is very specific—patients using medical marijuana must meet at least one of the current list of 21 qualifying medical conditions:
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Testing positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Cancer
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (repetitive brain trauma)
• Traumatic brain injury
• Crohn’s disease
• Epilepsy or another seizure disorder
• Fibromyalgia
• Glaucoma
• Hepatitis C
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Chronic, severe or intractable pain
• Parkinson’s disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Sickle cell anemia
• Spinal cord disease or injury
• Tourette’s syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis
Warner said marijuana can be dispensed in the form of edibles, oils, patches and vapor, and patients and their caregivers can possess up to a 90-day supply, but growing the plants at home or smoking it remains illegal under the Ohio Revised Code.
For more information about medical marijuana in Ohio, including a list of physicians who can prescribe medical marijuana, go to medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov.
Reach Tim Colliver at 937-402-2571
