Connecticut May Approve Five New MMJ Qualifying Conditions

The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection has approved five new conditions for the state’s medical cannabis program bringing the total to 36, the Hartford Business Journal reports. The conditions must still be approved by the legislature’s Regulations Review Committee.

On Monday, the agency approved interstitial cystitis, a chronic bladder pain syndrome, intractable neuropathic pain that is unresponsive to traditional medical treatments, medial arcuate ligament syndrome, which causes severe abdominal pain, Tourette syndrome, and vulvodynia and vulvar burning, which causes pain in female genitalia. Some of the conditions are only approved for adults, while others are approved for both adults and patients under 18-years-old.

According to the report, the DCP will consider and define chronic pain at a future meeting.

According to state statistics, there are currently 33,206 registered medical cannabis patients in the state with 1,114 recommending physicians. There are nine dispensaries serving patients and four medical cannabis producers.

“Our program relies on the advice and guidance we receive from the medical community including the board. I’m pleased with how our program has grown to support well over 30,000 patients with severe debilitating conditions in the state, all while keeping the integrity of this truly medical program in mind.” – DCP Commissioner Michelle H. Seagull, to the Business Journal

Last month, the legislature’s Finance Committee advanced a recreational cannabis bill but according to a Hartford Courant report, that bill will not be voted on in the General Assembly this session. Medical cannabis was legalized in the state in 2012 and sales began in 2014. The state has updated its medical cannabis qualifying conditions twice before, in 2016 and 2018.