Ohio, one of the states that is still divided over the cannabis legislation, has made some changes surrounding this topic. Specifically, the Ohio Senate has changed the legislation surrounding the use of medical marijuana. In fact, they have approved a new bill that would change who would have access to these helpful products.

Details

On Wednesday, Dec. 15, the Ohio Senate approved a bill that dramatically expanded the state’s medical marijuana program. They passed the bill in a 26-5 vote. The bill will next go to the House for consideration.  The bill allows doctors to recommend cannabis for patients, specifically those doctors “reasonably expect” cannabis will benefit. It also makes the regulatory structure of Ohio’s medical marijuana system more streamlined. The bill would create a Division of Marijuana Control within the Department of Commerce in order to accomplish this. This new division would oversee the program, taking over for the Board of Pharmacy. It would be responsible for licensing at least one retail dispensary for every 1,000 patients to the first 300,000 registered patients. It would then add additional retail dispensaries on an as-needed basis.

In regards to these dispensaries, the bill would allow them to advertise, even on social media, without approval from the division. The bill would also establish a new “standalone processor” licensing category. Additionally, it would establish two levels of cultivator licenses. These levels include the following: level I cultivating up to 50,000 square feet and level II cultivating up to 6,000 square feet.

Reasonings

One of the sponsors of the bill, Senator Steve Huffman, explained that the reason for this bill is “not about if we have a medical marijuana program in Ohio,” on the floor. He went on to explain that the focus of the bill is improving on what the senate accomplished five years ago. Another sponsor of the bill, Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, pointed out that medical marijuana isn’t treated like medicine and “treated like a joke”, which he claims is a mistake. He refers to the potential benefits, like its potential use as anti-seizure treatment or a PTSD treatment.

Use

With the approval of this new bill, patients could gain access to new sources of treatment. Many studies have already looked into the potential health benefits of medical cannabis, showing that this was a long time coming. Hopefully, this is just the first step towards complete reform.

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