Cleveland Clinic Thinks Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Conditions List Should Be Expanded

The Cleveland Clinic is a leading hospital in the country and it says that the state should be more flexible when it comes to what conditions a patient can use medical marijuana for. As it stands now, 20 medical conditions are approved for the program. Patients and/or advocates can petition the state to add new conditions.

The Cleveland Clinic wants a method for removing or modifying what conditions patients qualify for to participate in Ohio’s medical marijuana program, according to Columbus Business First. The hospital has petitioned the State Medical Board of Ohio to create a provision for doing so. The latest draft rules changes did not reflect the request made by Cleveland Clinic.

Kristen Morris of the Cleveland Clinic said, “It is almost certain that the list of conditions for which marijuana can be used will change. And while we expect that we will discover new uses for the plant and its components, we can also expect that evidence will emerge to show that marijuana is not efficacious and may in fact be harmful for some conditions.”

Morris also said, “We believe it would be advisable to have a process whereby conditions can be expanded, refined or narrowed as our knowledge expands.”

The permanent rules for the program must be in place by September 2017. The program is expected to start operating in 2018.