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04/16/2016

Medical marijuana bill to be introduced by the Ohio House

Source: Drug Free Action Alliance

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL TO BE INTRODUCED BY THE OHIO HOUSE

The House unveiled their plans to introduce a "medical" marijuana bill in the coming days with the Ohio House saying that something will be introduced by the end of the week.  They have promised that this will be a fast  moving piece of legislation with an assurance that this will be passed out of the House by the "end of April."  The House will conduct special hearings in the next two weeks, so there is very little turnaround time.  Drug Free Action Alliance is very concerned about a couple of the policy pieces of the forthcoming bill.

1.    Doctors will be able to "prescribe" or recommend marijuana for any ailment that they would want to diagnose.  In other states where this is done, there is at least a list of conditions that people must have to get a medical marijuana card. But in Ohio, that would be left up to the doctor.  We are fearful that this untested useage will not only be widely abused but could also have health impacts.  Drug Free Action Alliance believes that medicine should be tested and approved as a medicine like any other drug before being recommended by a physician.  With other medications, physicians are typically given a patient information sheet from the pharmaceutical company that shows side effects, efficacy and other health impacts that a physician relies on before prescribing that medication.  Although physicians have much knowledge about physical health, the majority do not have drug-development specialties and rely on the testing and FDA process to make those determinations.  You can click here to understand the drug-development process a bit better if you would like.

2.    The idea of "plant matter" is also going to be included in the language.  This means that smoking marijuana as a means of medicine is still on the table.  The physicians and scientists that testifed before the committee said that pills and oils are preferable as smoking is the most crude way of ingesting any "medicine." DFAA believes that this policy will be used for recreational purposes and wil cause ill health consequences from smoking.

Although there is some protection for businesses being able to enforce their Drug Free Workplace, this language will not take into account the increased numbers of people who will use marijuana more regularly which will, in turn, shrink the workforce that employers can choose from for safe and productive employees.  We are also assured that there will be no home grows, however, we are deeply concerned that this policy is ripe for abuse and will give Ohio a system closer to Colorado than a more controlled state.  

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

The hearings will be introduced in the next day or two and we need every sector of the community to testify about the dangers of passing this loose of a medical marijuana bill.  We also need each person to contact their legislator to let the legislator know of your concerns.  If you do not know who your legislator is, please click here and contact your House member via email or phone.

Finally, Drug Free Action Alliance has put together a webpage of over 100 research articles about marijuana's impact on health.  The sections include scientific studies of marijuana's impact on mental health, physical health, life success and brain development.  We encourage you to cite these articles when you are corresponding with your House member and include them if you are going to testify on this bill.  

Thank you for your attention to this matter and if you have any questions, please contact Tony Coder at tcoder@drugfreeactionalliance.org.  We will send the bill language as soon as it is released!

 

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