Partial legalization of medical cannabis

Partial legalization of medical cannabis (2016)[edit]

In June 2016, Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 523, which permits the medical use of marijuana in some cases. The bill, sponsored by state Representative Stephen Huffman, was approved by an 18-15 vote in the state Senate and by an 67-29 vote in the state House.^[7]

The bill sets up a rulemaking process under which a "state-run or licensed system of growing facilities, testing labs, physician certification, patient registration, processors, and retail dispensaries" will be established; the process could take up to two years.^[7][8] The statute "requires the system to be fully operational by September 2018," with the Ohio Department of Commerce to make rules for cultivators by May 6, 2017, to issue rules and regulations for cultivators, and the remainder of rules to be promulgated by October 2017.^[9] In the interim, however, "patients with one of 21 debilitating diseases or conditions contained in the law" are permitted under the law to go to Michigan or another state with legalized medical marijuana, legally acquire marijuana there, and bring it back to Ohio for use in accordance with Ohio law.^[7]

The twenty-one qualifying conditions are: AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), Crohn's disease, epilepsy (or other seizure disorder), fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, "pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable," Parkinson's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette's syndrome, traumatic brain injury, ulcerative colitis, and "any other disease or condition added by the state medical board."^[10]

Smoking and the home cultivation of marijuana remain prohibited under the law, which only permits marijuana in "edible, oil, vapor, patch, tincture, and plant matter form."^[7]