Earlier this month, a new medical cannabis bill passed through the House in Ohio. However, despite this victory, some medical activists in the state are not happy with this proposed bill.
Specifically, the Ohioans for Medical Marijuana had some problems with a few of the restrictions laid out by this new plan. For one thing, the initiative requires physicians to specify which type of cannabis they recommend for patients, instead of letting their patients choose their own way to medicate.
“These kinds of provisions risk putting doctors at odds with federal law, and have significantly hindered the two-year-old medical marijuana program in New York,” Aaron Marshall, a representative of Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, told High Times.
“Very few doctors will be willing to enter into a system that doesn’t trust them to make decisions that are in the best interest of their patients and ties their hands with regulatory red tape,” he added.
Another issue they take is that the bill currently requires new rules to regulate the industry to fall into place within the next two years. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana feel that this is too long to wait, as the patients who need relief now will still have to bide their time for the next two years before they can get access to medication. The new bill also limits the amount of THC that can be prescribed, and only lists a few qualifying conditions as those that cannabis can be prescribed for.
For all of these reasons, the Ohioans for Medical Marijuana are currently collecting signatures to launch their own bill. Their version would allow no THC limit, home-grown cannabis, and many more qualifying conditions for patients.
“We are not going to let the passage of a bad bill deter us,” Marshall explained. “The bottom line is that this bill will not provide patients with access to medical marijuana. We are going to continue to move forward with a plan that provides access to medical marijuana for thousands of Ohioans with serious debilitating illnesses.”
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