Medical marijuana bill headed to Governor’s desk

Ohio is poised to become the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana after state lawmakers approved a fast-moving bill Wednesday evening in a close vote.

The bill cleared the Ohio Senate on Wednesday in a bipartisan 18-15 vote. The House later agreed to the changes, sending the bill to Gov. John Kasich. Kasich has said he would support a medical marijuana bill if doctors led on the issue.

The vote caps a historic debate at the Statehouse about medical marijuana, a subject the conservative legislature has been reluctant to take up for years. But last year’s failed recreational marijuana measure, sky-high support for medical marijuana in public opinion polls and the prospect of another ballot initiative nudged lawmakers to act.

The bill is at odds with Ohioans for Medical Marijuana’s constitutional amendment planned for the November ballot.

What would the bill do?

• People with one of about two dozen qualifying medical conditions could use marijuana if recommended by their physician.
• Patients could not smoke or grow their own marijuana, but vaping would be allowed.
• Oils, tinctures, patches and plant material would be sold in dispensaries licensed by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy.
• The Department of Commerce would write rules for licensing cultivators, processors and testing labs.
• The State Medical Board would register physicians and determine education requirements for those physicians.
• A bipartisan 13-member Medical Marijuana Advisory Board would recommend rules to the three regulatory agencies.
• The program would have to be up and running within two years.
• Patients and caregivers would have an “affirmative defense” from arrest or prosecution if caught with marijuana before it’s legally sold in Ohio, as long as use was recommended by a physician and meets the criteria established for the program.
• Medical marijuana patients could be fired for violating an employer’s drug-free workplace policy, as they are in other medical marijuana states. Patients would then be ineligible for unemployment benefits.

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