Ohio is the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana effective September 8, 2016. But it will likely take 2 years for licensed marijuana dispensaries to be up and running. The process for patient registration is yet to be developed, and it is not yet legal for Ohioans to obtain marijuana from another medically legal state, such as Michigan. So, Ohioans looking to legally use marijuana as medicine will have to wait.
Ohio law explained
Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program, charged with developing the patient registration system, may take a year before allowing those with designated illnesses to obtain a doctor’s recommendation for medical cannabis. Approved illnesses include: Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy or other seizure disorder, Chronic Pain, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Fibromyalgia, and others.
The new law does not make it legal to smoke— combust— the marijuana, or to grow your own plants. Instead, acceptable forms for ingestion include vaporization (heating the marijuana plant to release marijuana’s primary psychoactive chemical, Tetrahydrocannibinol— that is, THC— and other cannabinoids without releasing carcinogenic smoke), edibles (such as baked goods or teas), using patches, and taking oils or tinctures. Patients will be permitted to possess a 90-day supply of the drug.
How marijuana works as medicine
Cannabinoids are a class of many chemicals found in marijuana that bind to receptors in the body’s nervous and immune systems. THC is the chemical that gets people high, but also fights nausea and increases appetite, as well as alleviating other symptoms. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, has become popular as a treatment for many of the same health problems marijuana is approved to treat. CBD oil has been available for purchase before the new law at several Toledo area outlets.
Legal classification of marijuana
Ohio’s new medical marijuana law explicitly classifies marijuana as a Schedule 2 controlled substance, a designation that recognizes an accepted medical use, while acknowledging a high potential for abuse.
However, recently the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reaffirmed that, under federal law, marijuana has no accepted medical use, leaving marijuana in the Schedule 1 category.
The DEA’s stance, declining to reschedule marijuana, maintains the legal conflict between 25 state medical marijuana laws and the federal government.
Both the Federal Controlled Substances Act and Ohio’s Controlled Substances statute consist of five schedules of drugs, Schedule 1 being for drugs considered to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Heroin, LSD, Mescaline, Peyote, Ecstasy, and Psilocybin from “magic mushrooms” are some of the many Federal Schedule 1 drugs. The drugs in schedules 2 through 5 all have an accepted medical use coupled with a decreasing potential for abuse.
Surprisingly, sap from the opium poppy, as well as coca leaves, cocaine, and methamphetamine are all listed in Schedule 2, despite the fact that smoking opium or chewing coca leaves are hardly accepted forms of medicine in the USA. Seemingly, if opium and coca leaves are listed in Schedule 2, marijuana could also be listed that way.
“It is shaky ground, as long as the federal government sees marijuana as having no medical benefits,” University of Toledo Law Professor Jelani Exum said. “Another [Presidential] administration can come in and have a completely different outlook [on medical marijuana] and shut everything down – that would be hugely unpopular. I doubt there will be any big push by the federal government to destroy what states are doing.”
“I am disappointed in the DEA for refusing to reschedule this drug,” said State Senator Edna Brown, who represents Lucas County and co-sponsored the medical marijuana legislation, H.B. 523. “Although I highly encourage additional research on this subject, there is already significant data to show that the use of cannabis for the management of pain and other medical illnesses is highly beneficial… [The DEA’s] decision will continue to make access to care unnecessarily difficult for families throughout the country.“
Conflicting State and Federal laws
“They’re still policing these legal states,” said Chad Thompson, Northwest Ohio NORML’s (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) action director. “An ounce and a half [of marijuana] in Washington State will get you a $10,000 fine,” Thompson said, referring to federal, not state, statutes.
A recent ruling by the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, based on a Congressional budget measure, prohibits the U.S. from spending money to prosecute or pursue marijuana dispensaries or individuals lawfully using marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation.
Morgan Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana advocacy organization working on reforming marijuana laws and legalizing medical marijuana, said that if the DEA moved marijuana to Schedule 2 it would not help the states that much. “The DEA’s decision not to reschedule marijuana at the federal level means almost nothing in practical terms for Ohio,” he wrote in an e-mail. “[Rescheduling] would not allow doctors to prescribe marijuana until it was approved by the FDA, which is unlikely to happen in raw plant form.” =
Differing opinions on Ohio’s law
The medical marijuana law does have its detractors. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana (OMM), a state group that had been pushing a ballot initiative to amend the Ohio Constitution to include medical marijuana, dropped its ballot initiative when Governor Kasich signed the medical marijuana law, calling it a “joyous day.” But the group also called the law imperfect. “While there are about 20 serious and debilitating medical conditions covered by Ohio’s medical marijuana law there are still far too many Ohioans being left behind,” said Aaron Marshall of OMM. “Huntington’s Disease, Autism agitation, as well as those suffering from severe muscle spasms and severe nausea are all excluded from the list of diseases covered by Ohio’s law.” OMM also thinks the law’s regulation of doctors too stringent, that the law should permit patients to be able to grow their own marijuana plants, and allow people to smoke the marijuana.
State Representative Teresa Fedor, who represents Toledo constituents, voted against the law. “I can be supportive of medical marijuana, [but] I was in no rush… Protection for workers are not there,” she said. Under the new law, an employer does not have to accommodate an employee’s use of marijuana, and an employee who is injured while working under the influence of marijuana will not be eligible for worker’s compensation benefits. Employers can still drug test and refuse to hire or fire employees for using medical marijuana, and if you are fired for using marijuana, you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits. “I called the new law a cruel joke,” Rep. Fedor said in an e-mail, “because it limits workplace protections… There are many other medications that are much harsher and have more side effects than marijuana.”
OMM estimates that 200,000 Ohioans will ultimately qualify for access to medical marijuana.
“Patients deserve options,” Senator Edna Brown said, “If licensed medical doctors believe a patient could benefit from marijuana, we should believe (the doctors).”
Attempts to change Federal law
One member of Congress, Vermont Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders made just such an effort to change the laws last year, submitting a bill in the U.S. Senate, the “Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act.” The bill would have removed marijuana from the Controlled Substances Schedule, and effectively made its regulation like that of alcohol. However, the bill lacked support.
The beginning of Ohio’s foray into the legalization of medical marijuana is here. How this will play out in our state, and across the country, continues to unfold.
Ohio’s website and FAQ on the Medical Marijuana Law:
medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov/
