Ohio senator introducing medical marijuana bill
COLUMBUS – On Wednesday, May 21, at 11 a.m. in the Senate Minority Conference Room of the Ohio Statehouse, Senator Tom Roberts (D-Dayton) will unveil details regarding the Ohio Medical Compassion Act (OMCA), which would allow patients to use medicinal cannabis through a regulated system of quality health care.
“The OMCA would give patients the opportunity to choose the type of medicine that most effectively treats them,” Senator Roberts said. “Our laws should reflect the latest in medical research, which has shown that medicinal cannabis has a variety of benefits for treating pain, nausea and other symptoms related to a wide range of disease.”
The Senator’s press conference will feature speakers who will provide expert testimony on the various benefits of medicinal cannabis from a health, legal and financial standpoint, while patients who benefit from medicinal cannabis also will be present.
This legislation would allow qualified patients and primary caregivers to use medicinal cannabis through a cardholder system. Under the OMCA, the Ohio Department of Health and the Ohio Department of Agriculture would be authorized to establish an advisory board that would do the following:
- Consider granting medicinal use of cannabis in cases of debilitated medical conditions;
- Consider applications for and renewals of registry identification cards for qualified patients and primary caregivers; and
- Provide recommendations for the safe use and efficient growing of medicinal cannabis.
The program created through the OMCA will generate sufficient revenues to offset all expenses. The OMCA would also allow qualified patients and primary caregivers with valid registry identification cards to use medicinal cannabis without fear of arrest, prosecution, penalty or denial of rights and privileges for such use. Law enforcement would be required to verify registration of patients before arrests, raids or other actions are taken.
Additionally, the OMCA would prohibit persons from engaging in the following:
- Performing tasks under the influence of cannabis that would constitute negligence or professional malpractice;
- Possessing or using cannabis in school buses, on preschool grounds, primary or secondary schools and in correctional facilities;
- Smoking cannabis on public transportation systems or in correctional facilities, as well as operate or navigate motor vehicles.
“In an era of scientific breakthroughs and medical advances, patients should not be put in the position of choosing between living a normal life and living a healthy life,” Roberts said. “The current lack of medical alternatives highlights the urgent need for Ohio to join a growing list of other states and pass the OMCA, which is long-overdue.”
Medical marijuana has been confined so far to the West Coast and the Northeast. We are so excited to see this legislation working into Midwestern states like Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, even Nebraska and Kansas are looking into medical marijuana. Now, these bills don’t always survive, but to even have them introduced and discussed is just another victory in the long struggle to end adult marijuana prohibition.
Tags: Ohio
