Ohio board rejects Medical Marijuana for autism
Ohio Medical Board Rejects Adding Autism, Female Orgasmic Difficulty Disorder to Medical Marijuana List.
The State Medical Board of Ohio rejected proposals to add autism and female orgasmic difficulty disorder to the list of qualified conditions for which patients can obtain medical marijuana.
The decision in June came as another state agency, the Division of Cannabis Control, continues to review applications for recreational marijuana businesses. The division has until Sept. 7 to notify applicants whether they have been awarded or denied licenses. The first dispensaries to open to adults aged 21 and older are expected to be those currently serving medical patients, since the buildings are already constructed and product is already on shelves.
The decision came following testimony from experts including the University of Cincinnati's Craig Erickson, MD, associate professor in UC's College of Medicine and a Cincinnati Children's Hospital physician researcher, who spoke against the inclusion of autism on the approved conditions list.
Cleveland highlighted Erickson's and other experts' testimony in an article about the board's decision. Erickson told the board adults and children with autism are increasingly testing positive for THC even though there are not reports of clearly positive change in autism spectrum disorder patients.
Erickson added he's concerned that some patients are not capable of giving consent for cannabis, due to the communication deficits that are part of their autism spectrum disorder.
