Ohio Medical Board rejects new ailments for medical marijuana program
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX/WTTE) — UPDATE: The Ohio Medical Board is tabling decision to add autism and anxiety to the list of conditions for medical marijuana. The board did vote to reject depression, insomnia and opioid use disorder as possible conditions.
_____________________
The State Medical Board of Ohio could vote Wednesday to vastly expand the number of patients eligible for the state's medical marijuana control program. 21 conditions have been approved for patients to get medical cannabis. Autism, anxiety, depression, insomnia and opioid-use disorder could be added.
Only autism-spectrum disorder and anxiety were recommended to be approved by a sub-committee of the state medical board.
“Ohio started this program from scratch," said Thomas Rosenberger, the associate director of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Cultivators Association. "We never had this program before. As long as Ohio has a medical marijuana program, it’s going to be a very tightly controlled program.”
Rosenberger said roughly 1.6 million Ohioans have some form of anxiety and could be newly eligible for medical cannabis while roughly 44,000 people with autism spectrum disorder could also be added. Currently, there 31,000 registered medical marijuana patients according to Ohio records, but only half of them have actually bought it.
He said typically only 1.5 to three percent of eligible patients turn to medical cannabis. Even that small percentage would lead to nearly double the number of patients joining the state's program.
“I have great concerns about all conditions that have been added to the list," said Marcie Seidel, executive director of Prevention Action Alliance. "(Conditions like anxiety and depression) are really ripe for abusing or getting it in other ways, having marijuana for other reasons than having a medical condition.”
Seidel said she has concerns about how much is actually known about marijuana as medicine.
“The problem is there hasn't been enough robust research to be able to prove whether it’s usable or effective for that," she said.
Rosenberger disputed that notion saying there's not much research in the United States because marijuana is still a Schedule 1 illegal drug. He said research in Europe and Israel shows cannabis has helped treat more ailments than in the state's program.
____
Follow Ben on Facebook and Twitter
