Kasich signs medical marijuana bill into law

It’s official: Ohio has become the 25th state to legalize medical marijuana.

The bill isn’t expected to take full effect for about two years, so don’t start treating your back pain in Goodale Park just yet.

Under the new law, medical marijuana patients would only be allowed to partake in vapor or medical form, they would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana and their employers could still fire them for using the drug, even if they are using it for a legitimate medical purpose.

Once the law takes effect in 90 days, cities and towns can move to ban dispensaries or limit the number of them. Furthermore, dispensaries would not be allowed within 500 feet of schools, churches, public libraries, playgrounds or parks.

Expect to see more changes to the law before it’s fully enacted.

6/1/16: Cutting through the haze: Whatever happened with medical pot?

Unless you’ve been following our extensive coverage of the battle for medical pot in Ohio, you might be a bit confused about the current status of the drug-turned-medicine.

After all, state lawmakers dealt with the drug on the fast track, passing landmark legislation only about a month after it was introduced.

The most recent developments are as follows:

• The state legislature passed a bill legalizing medical marijuana in Ohio. All that’s left now is for a few routine approvals, and then it’s sent to Governor Kasich’s desk to be signed into law.
• National advocacy group the Marijuana Policy Project ended their campaign for a constitutional amendment that would legalize medical pot. To them, the law was good enough.

Had the Marijuana Policy Project successfully passed their initiative in the November election, it would have overridden the state law via a constitutional amendment.

Lawmakers are happy that the group dropped the initiative, since constitutional amendments are harder to change or regulate once they’re enacted, but some marijuana advocates are upset, since the ballot initiative would have allowed patients to grow and smoke their own marijuana.

A few restrictions come with the new law:

• Patients are not allowed to smoke pot. Instead, only vapes, edibles and oils will be allowed.
• Patients are not allowed to grow their own pot
• Pot can only be prescribed for certain conditions. Vague conditions like “headaches” might get you a Green Card out west, but it looks like that won’t fly in Ohio.
• Your employer can still fire you for using pot, even if you’re using marijuana for a perfectly legitimate medical condition.

Notably, there are some legitimate medical uses for marijuana, including treatment of severe epilepsy, PTSD, symptoms of chemotherapy and certain forms of chronic pain.

As for what’s next, after Kasich signs the bill into law, it will probably be a while before your doctor starts giving you doobies for your broken arm, but don’t expect the wait to be longer than a year.

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