COLUMBUS, Ohio – The number of U.S. military veterans who are registered Ohio medical marijuana patients increased by 37% in the past two months to 2,677 people.
The state keeps track of veterans because they can qualify for a fee reduction of 50% when registering as patients for medical marijuana. They must provide military documentation showing they’re vets.
In all, 35,162 people are registered patients and 3,299 are caregivers, according to state data.
Many patients have more than one qualifying condition under which they can get medical marijuana.
The following are the top conditions:
- Chronic or intractable pain: 25,834
- Post-traumatic stress disorder: 6,193
- Fibromyalgia: 4,515
- Cancer: 2,690
- Spinal cord disease or injury: 2,061
The most recent state data shows 385 medical marijuana patients had a terminal diagnosis. That’s up from April when 128 were terminally ill.
In other marijuana news in Ohio:
- When state regulators planned the medical marijuana program, they wanted 56 dispensaries. However, today only 18 are open. The rest are delayed, although regulators are trying to push them toward an opening date.
- The State Medical Board of Ohio has indefinitely postponed a vote on whether to allow medical marijuana for people with anxiety and autism spectrum disorder.
- A new Ohio bill would ban fake urine in drug tests. This is mostly aimed at the opioids epidemic but would affect marijuana users, too.
In marijuana news outside Ohio:
- Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak signed a bill barring employers from denying employment to a job candidate based on a drug test that’s positive for marijuana. The state has had legal recreational marijuana for two years. The law wouldn’t apply to EMTs, firefighters and those who drive vehicles, USA Today reports.
- While a late-May study showed marijuana reduced anxiety and cravings for recovering heroin addicts, an even more recent study covered by the Atlantic casts doubt on that belief. Although states with legal medical marijuana from 1999 to 2010 had lower opioids overdose deaths, researchers found states that introduced the laws after then were not able to head off the opioid epidemic. In fact, there was an increase in opioid deaths.
Marijuana News is an occasional feature with news about cannabis in Ohio and other places.