Advocates Renew Push to Add Autism to Ohio Medical Cannabis Program

Citizens in Ohio are, again, pushing for the State Medical Board to add autism spectrum disorder to the state’s medical cannabis qualifying conditions list, Cleveland.com reports. It’s the third consecutive year the public has pressed for autism to be added to the list; they were denied in 2021 and 2022.

The renewed request comes as state lawmakers are considering a bill that would add autism to the list. Last year, the state House Health Committee approved a measure to make the change but it didn’t make it to the floor for a vote.  

The state Senate is considering its own measure that would not only add autism to the medical cannabis qualifying list but would also take medical cannabis oversight out of the purview of the Medical Board. That proposal would create a Division of Marijuana Control.  

State lawmakers are also considering an initiated statute proposal that would put a broad cannabis legalization question to voters if lawmakers don’t pass the legalization bill themselves. Lawmakers have until April to pass the reforms, or the question will be put to voters in November. 

Since the launch of the state medical cannabis program, the Medical Board has added just four new qualifying conditions: cachexia in 2020 and Huntington’s disease, spasticity, and terminal illness in 2021, the report says.   

Members of the public are also petitioning the board to add bipolar 2, chronic migraines, uterine cancer, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and degenerative disc disorder. Currently, the state’s list of qualifying conditions for the medical cannabis program includes 25 conditions.