Medical Marijuana Bill Moves To Ohio State Senate

Robert Celt

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Medical marijuana moves one step closer to becoming legal in Ohio.

Representatives passed House Bill 523 on Tuesday. Now, it is up to the Senate. Some believe the offer on the table is not enough.

Carrieann Weigel's 10-year-old daughter Josie suffers from pachygyria. It causes developmental delay and severe epilepsy.

"She has seizures every single day," said Weigel. "They are debilitating for everyone involved."

She waits for the day she can give her daughter some relief.

"It is one step closer," said Weigel.

House Bill 523 would create a nine-member medical marijuana commission. They write the rules and regulations. The bill says cannabis can be vaporized but not smoked.

It also dictates the forms of the marijuana and would only allow licensed physicians to prescribe medical marijuana to patients suffering from 19 conditions such as cancer, chronic pain, traumatic brain injury and epilepsy.

"Any progress that we make is definitely a good progress. However, with the restrictions that takes away from someone else that might need it," said Weigel.

The group, Ohioans for Medical Marijuana, hopes the Senate expands the bill. But if not, the group is proposing its own November ballot initiative.

Under the proposal, patients could purchase medical marijuana from retail outlets or grow their own. Like so many people, Weigel wants to see medical marijuana legalized in one way or another.

"If other states can do it, we can do it too," said Weigel. "We cannot wait two years for this to happen. We do not know what is going to happen to all these children and adults who are catastrophically ill."

If this bill is passed, Ohio would become the 25th medical marijuana state in the country. The group pushing for the amendment needs to collect more than 300,000 signatures by this summer. Unlike the recreational marijuana issue, the medical marijuana push seems to have less opposition.

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News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana Bill Moves To Ohio State Senate
Author: Alyssa Raymond
Photo Credit: Jim Poulin
Website: WKYC
 
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