This week’s featured blog: Marijuana In Ohio: What Is Legal And What Isn’t? By of Dearie, Fischer & Mathews LLC
What’s Legal In OH Medical Marijuana Law 2018?
There are a lot of restrictions on the cultivating, testing, selling, prescribing, and ingesting of the drug. Marijuana use by prospective patients is being overseen and regulated by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. The board will determine which doctors can recommend patients for marijuana, which conditions can be treated with marijuana, and will determine if individuals are eligible to obtain the medical marijuana card that will give them the legal permission to possess and use the drug.
Marijuana Patients are required to obtain a Medical Marijuana Card
Prior to using the drug to treat one of 21 conditions that are approved for treatment with marijuana, patients must establish a relationship with a physician who is certified by the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to recommend marijuana as treatment for patients. For qualifying patients, the physician can recommend the patient and submit a patient registration. The patient can then apply online for a medical marijuana card, and pay the associated fee. Possession of the card will allow patients to obtain and possess marijuana legally.
Not all doctors will be able to recommend marijuana for their patients.
Many people are under the impression that their local family doctor will automatically have the ability to prescribe marijuana as they would any other medication. However, doctors who want to recommend patients for marijuana treatment are required to take a two-hour training course and apply for certification from the Ohio Medical Board.
Medical Marijuana is approved for legal treatment of a limited number of conditions.
The following medical conditions qualify for physician recommendation of treatment with medical marijuana: AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or another seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette’s syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and ulcerative colitis.
Medical Marijuana can only be dispensed in a limited number of forms.
Marijuana is usually thought of as a drug that is smoked. However, smoking marijuana will remain illegal even after the medical marijuana laws go into effect. Certified physicians will be able to prescribe marijuana to patients in the following forms: oil, tincture, capsule, or other edible forms that can be taken orally; patches for the administration of creams and ointments; metered oil or plant material that can be administered through a vaporizing device. However, no vaping device that allows for direct contact of the medical marijuana with its heating element, can be used for the vaporization of plant resin or its extracts.
Remember that smoking marijuana is always and everywhere illegal in the state of Ohio, and will continue to be illegal even when the medical marijuana laws come into full force.
Recreational Marijuana Use Remains Illegal
Recreational, unregulated use of marijuana is, for the time being, still illegal. Home-growing marijuana for medicinal or any other purpose remains illegal and will remain illegal even for those who have been approved for medicinal use. Many people are agitating for the legalization of recreational marijuana, and you may have read in the news that lawmakers are signaling that legislation may be heading in that direction. But until those laws are passed – and it could be quite some time before they are – Ohio residents should steer clear of smoking marijuana, using any other forms for recreational purposes, or cultivating marijuana in their residences or on private property.
DUI/OVI: Marijuana Drug Laws Still Apply for Drivers
You still cannot drive if your system contains an excess of the legal limit for the drug. Additionally, you can not drive while impaired by marijuana regardless of how much of the drug is in your system. If at any time you are stopped, and the police officer smells marijuana or finds marijuana in your vehicle, there is a good chance you will be charged with DUI and asked to submit a blood or urine sample for drug testing. Having a medical marijuana card does not provide a defense against a DUI/OVI charge. Medical Marijuana users cannot operate a motor vehicle while impaired or over the legal limit for marijuana.
Legal Representation
Skip Potter has 30+ years of experience in criminal and traffic defense. Should you find yourself seeking legal representation for possession of marijuana or for an DUI/OVI, contact our office for a free consultation.
SOURCE: https://www.dfm-law.com/blog/2018/06/whats-legal-in-oh-marijuana-law-2018.shtml
