The Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP) was written into law with the passage of House Bill 523 in 2016. The passage of this law implemented Ohio's medical marijuana program, including the rules and regulations involved in the program. One of the primary rules was developing a list of qualifying conditions eligible for medical marijuana treatment in the state of Ohio.
The OMMCP currently includes 21 medical conditions that can be approved for medical cannabis treatment; you can find the full list of Ohio's qualifying conditions here. While Ohio's medical marijuana program includes one of the largest number of qualifying conditions of any state-approved medical marijuana program across the country, many patients believe that the list is incomplete.
The good news for Ohioans is that the list of qualifying conditions is not set in stone: each year, the State Medical Board of Ohio has the authority to approve additional conditions and diseases eligible for medical cannabis treatment. The petition period to submit additional conditions for review by the State Medical Board began November 1, 2019 and will be closing December 31, 2019.
How to Add a Condition (or Disease) to the OMMCP
In order to submit a petition for adding a qualifying condition to the OMMCP, the OMMCP has a digital petition template available on its website. The petition form is brief, and requires the following pieces of information:
Contact information
Name of the disease or condition
Information from experts that specialize in the disease or condition
Relevant medical or scientific evidence pertaining to the disease or condition
Consideration of whether conventional medical therapies are insufficient to treat or alleviate the disease or condition
Evidence supporting the use of medical marijuana to treat or alleviate the disease or condition, including journal articles, peer-reviewed studies, and other types of medical or scientific documentation
Letters of support provided by physicians with knowledge of the disease or condition. This may include a letter provided by the physician treating the petitioner, if applicable
It is important to note that the State Medical Board will only consider specific diseases or conditions, and will not considering adding a broad category of diseases or conditions. Furthermore, any petition for a condition that has been previously reviewed and rejected will not be considered unless accompanied by scientific literature the supports the request.
Last year, the State Medical Board received nearly 100 submissions that were narrowed down to only five, including anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorder, insomnia, depression, and opioid abuse and addiction. Ultimately, only anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorder were recommended by a committee of the State Medical Board, but were ultimately rejected.
If you are an Ohioan suffering from one of these 21 medical conditions you may be eligible to treat your ailment with medical marijuana, which includes both THC and CBD products.
Click here to learn more about what Ohio Marijuana Card's state-certified medical marijuana doctors can do for you, or give us a call at (866-457-5559) and our friendly support team can walk you through the entire process, and set you up with an appointment.