Important Information
from the State Medical Board of Ohio
Medical Board Considers Additional Medical Marijuana Qualifying Conditions
February 12,
2020 24989 24989 
The State Medical Board of Ohio will consider adding the following as qualifying conditions for Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program:
- Anxiety
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 petitions)
- Cachexia
Written public comment on these conditions will be accepted February 12 – March 1, 2020. Anyone may submit their comments by emailing MedicalMarijuana@med.ohio.gov.
Petition Process
On Wednesday, February 12, 2020 the board’s Medical Marijuana Committee met and voted to reject petitions that did not meet requirements and confirmed petitions that should move forward for expert review and public comment. Later this year, the board will decide if they should be added to the list of conditions which can qualify patients to participate in Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Control Program.
During the submission period, petitions were filed electronically through the state’s website, medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov. A petition needed to include (per Ohio Administrative Code 4731-32-05):
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The name and contact information
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Specific disease or condition requested to be added
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Information from experts who specialize in the study of the disease or condition
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Relevant medical or scientific evidence
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Consideration of whether conventional medical therapies are insufficient to treat or alleviate the disease or condition
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Evidence supporting the use of medical marijuana to treat or alleviate the disease or condition and other types of medical or scientific documentation
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Letters of support provided by physicians
The medical board received 27 petitions from November 1- December 31, 2019.
12 petitions failed to meet the statutory and rule requirements for consideration by the board. These petitions were rejected by the committee.
6 petitions failed to meet the statutory and rule requirements for consideration by the board. However, these petitions either explicitly petitioned for a condition already covered (e.g., fibromyalgia), or the petition was for a condition closely associated with a condition already covered (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain). These petitions were rejected by the committee.
The petition for cachexia will move forward for expert review as the committee felt it met the requirements and was not previously considered.
Petitions for anxiety, autism, depression, insomnia and opioid use disorder were rejected by the board in 2019. During their deliberation on February 12, 2020, the committee agreed that the petitions for anxiety and autism met the requirements of new scientific information outlined in Ohio Administrative Code 4731-32-05. The petitions for depression, insomnia and opioid use disorder did not contain supporting documents needed according to the rule.
Next Steps
Petitions which do meet the requirements will proceed and be reviewed by subject matter experts. These experts may include physicians who specialize in the named conditions, experts who have experience with medical marijuana programs in other states, etc. Petitions for the same condition will be combined for the reviews.
The committee reviews the subject matter experts’ reports, and then makes a recommendation to the full board for a vote to adopt/deny the petition to add the qualifying conditions. That full board vote is expected this summer.
The medical board’s rules (Ohio Administrative Code) for the qualifying conditions can be found here: http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/4731-32-05.
The next condition petition window will be November 1 – December 31, 2020.