Medical marijuana: Ohio to consider new qualifying conditions

Ohio will decide whether people with anxiety, depression and lupus can buy marijuana through the state’s medical program.

The State Medical Board received nine petitions for 10 potential new qualifying conditions in 2021 and is scheduled to meet next month to begin reviewing the requests. A final decision isn’t expected until this summer.

The board accepts submissions for new conditions every year. They must include letters of support from physicians and evidence that marijuana can be used to treat or alleviate the ailment.

Petitioners called on the board to add a variety of other conditions, including degenerative disc disease, bipolar disorder and insomnia. Officials may revisit whether to include autism spectrum disorder after rejecting it last year.

The board will also mull a petition to add opioid use disorder and Gilbert’s syndrome, a common liver condition that can lead to yellowish skin. Two of the requests – chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder – are already among Ohio’s qualifying conditions.

The petitions come as officials debate legislation that would allow physicians to recommend marijuana for any patient, regardless of condition, as long as they believe it would help alleviate their symptoms. The proposal would also overhaul the program by increasing the number of dispensary licenses and allowing cultivators to expand their facilities, among other changes.

The bill passed the Senate last month and will be considered by House lawmakers when they return from break.

Ohio’s medical marijuana conditions

The state currently has 25 qualifying conditions for medical marijuana:

● AIDS

● Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

● Alzheimer’s disease

● Cachexia

● Cancer

● Chronic traumatic encephalopathy ● Crohn’s disease

● Epilepsy or another seizure disorder

● Fibromyalgia

● Glaucoma

● Hepatitis C

● Huntington’s disease

● Inflammatory bowel disease

● Multiple sclerosis

● Pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable

● Parkinson’s disease

● Positive status for HIV

● Post-traumatic stress disorder

● Sickle cell anemia

● Spasticity

● Spinal cord disease or injury

● Terminal illness

● Tourette syndrome

● Traumatic brain injury

● Ulcerative colitis

Haley Bemiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.