Valentin Bosioc
With the passage of Ohio’s medical marijuana bill on September 6, 2016, important details got highlighted in the new state’s regulation, particularly about the medical use of marijuana.
The medical marijuana Ohio amendment allows its residents with certain debilitating medical conditions to use medical marijuana (in non-smoking forms) as recommended by a certified physician.
Right after the enforcement of this bill, qualified patients can get medical marijuana in any dispensaries that are licensed by the state. This program was slated to be fully operational by 2018, in September. However, the actual sales of medical marijuana only started in early 2019 due to the regulatory red tape. The following are some of the significant factors highlighted in the recent regulation.
Forms of Medical Marijuana That Are Permissible
While many types of medical marijuana existed in Ohio, not all of them are legal to use in this state. Legal forms of medical marijuana include:
- Vaporized cannabis (marijuana gets inhaled via a vaporizer, instead of direct smoking)
- Marijuana tinctures
- Marijuana oils
- Marijuana patches
- Plant substance
- Marijuana edibles
- Any other forms of marijuana with approval from the State Board of Pharmacy
Qualifying Conditions of Patients for Legal Use of Medical Marijuana
According to the medical marijuana Ohio law, the medicinal use of marijuana will only be permitted for patients who have any of the qualifying medical conditions, be it one or more, as approved and prescribed by an eligible doctor. These conditions are as follows:
- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
- Human immunodeficiency virus (positive)
- Cancer
- Lou Gehrig’s disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Traumatic brain injury
- Severe, chronic, or hard-to-manage (intractable) pain
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy or other types of seizure disorder
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Fibromyalgia
- Multiple sclerosis
- Spinal cord injury or illness
- Sickle cell anemia
- Ulcerative colitis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Inflammatory bowel disease
A patient that wishes to obtain medical marijuananeeds to schedule an appointment with an eligible physician and get diagnosed with one of these qualifying medical conditions.
Nevertheless, while medical cannabis may be one of the prescribed medicines for these conditions, not all patients with similar situations can be appropriately treated with medical marijuana. Thus, patients must consult their physicians about the benefits and potential risks of medical marijuana on their overall health.
Other Details About the Medical Marijuana Law
Some of the regulation’s information that individuals ought to know include:
- The prohibition of smoking or growing medical marijuana at home
- The prohibition of recreational use of marijuana in the state
- Application of patients to the State Board of Pharmacy for the usage of medical marijuana is not allowed. The application needs to be submitted by an eligible and certified physician (approved by the Ohio State Medical Board) on behalf of the patient.
- The law permits employers to take action on any employee that violates the company’s drug policy on marijuana usage, even though medical marijuana is according to the physician’s recommendation.
Given that this regulation is relatively new, patients still need to seek advice from their physician or healthcare provider to safeguard their wellbeing and avoid violations against the law.
