State says no to adding to list of diseases marijuana can treat

For the second time in five months, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration has declined to broaden the state’s new medical marijuana program by adding to the list of diseases that can be treated with the drug.

The Illinois Department of Public Health rejected recommendations of an expert advisory board appointed largely by Rauner’s predecessor, Democrat Pat Quinn.

The panel had recommended eight conditions— post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, irritable bowel syndrome, osteoarthritis and four pain syndromes— be added to the list.

Regulated medical marijuana sales began Nov. 9 in Illinois. A total of 4,400 patients, including 32 children, have gotten state approval to buy the drug at licensed dispensaries. Qualifying patients pay a yearly fee of $100 for a marijuana card and need a doctor’s written certification.

In September, the governor vetoed legislation that would have added PTSD, and his administration rejected 11 medical conditions recommended by the panel, saying it would be “premature to expand the pilot program before any patient has been served and before we have had the chance to evaluate it.”

Now, Melaney Arnold, a health department spokeswoman, says it’s still “premature to expand the pilot program.”

Five Illinois residents have sued to expand the program to cover conditions rejected in September.

The law authorizes a fouryear pilot program, expiring at the end of 2017, and lists 39 conditions and diseases that can qualify a patient to use medical marijuana— including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis.