Facebook suspends medical pot forum

Ohioans’ right to use medical marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation came faceto-face with Facebook’s community standards this week.

The social media platform on Wednesday took down the Ohio Medical Cannabis Review page, which gives medical marijuana users a forum to talk about the products available in dispensaries. Nearly 35,000 people saw the page’s posts from midJuly through mid-August, according to a site administrator. A message sent to administrators said the page was deleted for encouraging drug use, and the six administrators were given warnings or temporarily suspended from Facebook.

The social media giant’s community standards prohibit the sale of certain regulated goods, including medical marijuana. But the page’s administrators said their site simply involved discussions about product quality.

“It was a page patients could go to and see all the cool things in the program, and also get information so they are informed when they go to their local dispensary,” said page founder Michael Reed, who lives in Dayton.

The move comes a month after the We Grow Ohio Facebook page was suspended in mid-July. A Facebook representative said the suspension was issued in error.

WGO administrator, Robin Ann Morris, now takes a heavier hand in policing the group’s content.

Review page administrators Reed and Anthony Cordle of Columbus, believe dispensary employees flagged posts critical of their employers.

Cordle, for example, said his personal Facebook page was suspended after he posted a picture of moldy marijuana from an Ohio dispensary.

However, Facebook doesn’t show users who flagged their content, so they can’t say with certainty who objected to their posts.

Both men expressed exasperation, noting that cannabis is now legal for medical marijuana cardholders in Ohio.

A Facebook representative did not respond to a message seeking comment.