One of the benefits that the ResponsibleOhio campaign touted during their 2015 campaign was that legalization in Ohio would help patients. Unless you have been living under a rock, then you know that the 2015 Ohio legalization initiative lost. By a wide margin. But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t support for marijuana reform in Ohio, especially medical marijuana reform.
Many recent polls show strong support for medical marijuana in Ohio, and chatter has been picking up about the chances of Ohio legalizing medical marijuana, and when it would happen if the chances are good. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine recently spoke on the topic, per WLWT:
“I think medical marijuana is coming. Most Ohioans, when they look at this issue, you know, have great sympathy for people who might be helped by medical marijuana,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said.
DeWine said clinical studies and trials involving marijuana are going on across the country, including at Children’s Hospital in Columbus. Researchers are trying to determine if a new marijuana-based drug produced in Great Britain is helpful when it comes to treating children who have multiple seizures.
DeWine believes that results from the studies will be back within the next year, and he anticipates that the FDA will take appropriate action when the results are announced.
So when Mike DeWine talks about medical marijuana, is he talking about actual plant material, or is he talking about synthetic marijuana? And is he talking about Ohio legalizing medical marijuana, or is he talking about the FDA approving a new pharmaceutical form of cannabis (similar to marinol), which research has shown is not effective as whole plant based medicines? I would agree with Mr. DeWine in that medical marijuana is coming to Ohio, and soon. But I don’t think that we both agree what form of medical marijuana that will look like.
