Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has made it on to the qualifying condition list for medical cannabis eligibility in Ohio. But two other conditions that were petitioned have been rejected.
The State Medical Board of Ohio this week agreed to include IBS on Ohio’s list for medical marijuana, bringing the total number of qualifying conditions to 26. The two conditions rejected were autism spectrum disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
This was the fourth year the Board received petitions to add autism to Ohio’s list. Just prior to the Board’s meeting, the Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association (OMCIA) urged the body to vote yes on all three conditions; particularly autism.
“Ohio’s patients and parents deserve the right to pursue alternative treatments for autism and should legally have access to the safe and tested medical marijuana that is produced in Ohio’s program,” said OMCIA Executive Director Matt Close.
The OMCIA said it submitted extensive research to the Board to support the addition of all three conditions.
New conditions being added to Ohio’s list have been very few and far between. Since 2016 the Board has approved only four other petitions according to the OMCIA – cachexia was added to the program in 2020, and Huntington’s disease, spasticity and terminal illness in 2021.
In other recent local medical cannabis news, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy recently published updated patient and caregiver statistics for May 2023. At that point, there were 370,287 registered patients and 35,569 registered caregivers in the state. As at the middle of June, there were 657 physicians with certificates to recommend. As at late June, 174,574 pounds of plant material and 16,194,496 units of manufactured product had been sold in the state. Total cumulative sales of products had reached USD $1.37 billion.
House Bill 523, which came into effect on September 8, 2016, legalized medical marijuana in Ohio.
Three state government agencies oversee the state’s program. One is the Department of Commerce, which is responsible for oversight of medical marijuana cultivators, processors and testing laboratories. The Board of Pharmacy is responsible for retail dispensaries, patient and caregiver registration, the approval of new forms of medical marijuana and Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee coordination. The State Medical Board of Ohio certifies physicians to recommend medical marijuana and adds new conditions to the qualifying list.
Further information on Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program can be found here.
