Ohio Marijuana | OH Marijuana Ohio Marijuana Information and News
Ohio could become the first state in the U.S. to allow medical marijuana use for insomnia and depression. The state medical board has been studying the efficacy of medical marijuana for these ailments in January, along with 3 other conditions. Each year the medical board is permitted to add to the qualifying conditions list.
2019 marks the first year that the Ohio medical board will actually use their authority to consider new conditions, according to USA Today. On May 8, the 4-member panel will vote on recommending that new conditions be added. On June 12, the entire 12-member medical board is expected to vote on the additions.
Along with depression and insomnia, the state is also considering:
- Opioid use disorder
- Autism
- Anxiety
There is a lot of support in the state to add autism to the list. One advocate, and mother of a child with autism, submitted some 500 pages of information supporting the efficacy of medical marijuana for autism. Tiffany Carwile is the director of the Ohio chapter of Mothers Advocating for Medical Marijuana for Autism (MAMMA).
Carwile said, “Medical marijuana is not a cure for autism. I’m not saying this is going to cure my son. But I know it’s going to dramatically improve his quality of life. If some day he can say, ‘I love you, Mom,’ I will be the happiest person in the world.”
If all 5 of these health conditions are added to the state’s medical marijuana qualifying conditions list it opens up eligibility to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans – about half of the state’s population.
Eligibility would absolutely skyrocket since some data says that:
- No one knows exactly how any Ohioans struggle with opioid addiction or use issues
- Approximately 860,000 Ohioans have some insomnia in some degree
- About 725,000 Ohioans have some form of depression
- It’s estimated that 1.6 million Ohioans struggle with anxiety
- At last count, about 44,000 children in Ohio are on the Autism spectrum, the adult count is unknown
There are no states in the U.S. that allow medical marijuana use for depression or insomnia. Ohio would make history if these conditions are accepted.
