The State Medical Board of Ohio has received petitions to add several new qualifying conditions to the state’s medical cannabis program, according to a Yahoo! News report.
The board accepts submissions for new conditions every year, which must include letters of support from physicians and evidence that cannabis can be used to treat or alleviate the condition, the news outlet reported.
The petitions ask the State Medical Board to add anxiety, depression, lupus, degenerative disc disease, bipolar disorder, insomnia, opioid use disorder, Gilbert’s syndrome and autism spectrum disorder, which the board rejected last year but may revisit in 2022.
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Petitions have also requested the state to add chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to the medical cannabis program, but they are already among the state’s 25 existing qualifying conditions, according to Yahoo! News.
The State Medical Board will meet in February to review the petitions, and a final decision is expected this summer, the news outlet reported.
Meanwhile, the Ohio Senate has approved a bill that would allow physicians to recommend cannabis for any medical condition. The legislation would also expand the number of dispensary licenses in the state and allow licensed cultivators to expand their operations.
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The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is also working to gather enough signatures in support of an initiated statute to legalize adult-use cannabis in Ohio. Should the group’s petition succeed by a Jan. 4 deadline, the Ohio Legislature would have four months to consider the coalition’s proposed statute, which would legalize the personal use, sale and possession of adult-use cannabis.
