Understand About Medical Marijuana Laws in Ohio

The way that society views the use of marijuana has changed a lot in the past few years. Ohio decided to legalize medical marijuana in 2016 when voters chose to pass House Bill 523 into law. This allowed persons with qualifying conditions for a medical card in Ohio to access medical marijuana. However, patients could not purchase medical marijuana until 2019 due to the medical marijuana regulatory bureaucracy. There are still some restrictions on who should be allowed to access medical marijuana in Ohio, years after medical marijuana was legalized in Ohio. The restrictions also affect where and when a person should consume medical marijuana. There are also laws that govern the amount of cannabis a medical cardholder should possess.

What is the eligibility for obtaining a medical marijuana card in Ohio? 

The rules and regulations that govern the use of medical marijuana in Ohio states that only patients who have qualifying conditions for a medical card in Ohio. The following is part of the list of medical conditions the state considers qualifying. 

• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• AIDS
• Epilepsy (and other seizure disorders)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Crohn’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Hepatitis C
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cachexia
• Traumatic brain injury
• Cancer
• Spasticity
• Fibromyalgia
• Sickle cell anemia
• Glaucoma
• Spinal cord disease or injury
• Huntington’s disease,
• Inflammatory bowel disease,
• Multiple sclerosis
• Ulcerative colitis
• HIV
• Terminal illness
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Tourette’s syndrome

Medical conditions that cause extreme chronic pain may also be considered qualifying medical conditions. If you suffer from such a condition and it is not included in the list of qualifying conditions for a medical card in Ohio, the state allows you to apply for cannabis. An annual meeting is held every year by the Board of Pharmacy to discuss whether new qualifying medical conditions should be added to the list. You can take advantage of this process to ask the state to include your medical condition in the list. 

Getting Approved for Medical Marijuana 

A qualifying medical condition does not mean you can head to your nearest medical marijuana dispensary and start purchasing medical marijuana. As a patient, you first need to get yourself registered. The first thing that you require to do once you are diagnosed with a qualifying condition is to secure a recommendation from a state doctor. Not just any doctor will recommend you. You need to make sure that the doctor has a valid certificate to recommend (CTR). This certificate is often issued by the State Medical Board of Ohio.

You need to visit the doctor physically to obtain a recommendation. During this visit, the physician will conduct several tests and ask questions about the medical condition. This process determines whether the medical condition falls on the list of qualifying conditions for a medical card in Ohio. The physician will ask the Board to include your name in the patient’s registry. 

The physician will ask you to provide hard copies of your state’s identification card or driver’s license. These documents help to establish the patient’s identity. You may also use your U.S. passport as your identity verification document. The state also allows caregivers to buy and give medical marijuana to their patients. This is possible as long as the caregiver has a documentation agreement. 

If the doctor approves your application for medical marijuana, they will prescribe a 90-day supply. The physician can include up to three refills. This adds up to a year’s supply of medical marijuana. As a patient, you will continue receiving medical marijuana by visiting your doctor at least once a year.

After the physician enters your name into the patient registry, you will get an email that outlines the registration processes. You will need to finish the registration process and pay an annual registration fee of $50 as a patient or $25 as a caregiver. The registration fee is often reduced for veterans or patients below the poverty level. Once you are done with the registration procedure, the next and last step is to find the nearest cannabis dispensary to start purchasing medical marijuana products. 

Limits on Ohio Medical Marijuana

You need to understand that all over the country, medical marijuana is regarded as a controlled substance or drug. Despite its legalization, there are still many limitations set up to govern its use. As a patient, you are not allowed to grow your cannabis products if you live in Ohio. Once approved to use medical marijuana, you must follow due process and buy medical marijuana from a licensed and approved medical marijuana dispensary. 

Ohio also states that a patient can only possess up to a 90-day supply of marijuana at any given time. Based on the medical cannabis that you are using, State law defines what a 90-day supply is:

• If you use medical marijuana products in creams, lotions, patches, topical, or ointments, you must possess not more than twenty-six and fifty-five-hundredths grams of THC. 
• Not more than 8 ounces of tier I medical marijuana (23% THC or less).
• Less than five and three-tenths ounces of tier II medical cannabis for more than 23% THC. 
• If you use cannabis products such as capsules, edibles, oil, or tincture, you can possess up to nine and nine-tenths grams of THC content. 

Conclusion 

If you are thinking of using medical marijuana in Ohio, you need to make sure you are familiar with the rules and regulations. First, patients must be diagnosed with qualifying conditions for medical card in Ohio. After that, you will have to see a doctor recommending you to the Board of Pharmacy. You will then need to complete the registration process and look for a licensed medical marijuana dispensary to start purchasing medical cannabis. You also need to know how much medical marijuana you must possess at a given time.