Medical Marijuana

What happens now that the Ohio legislature passed a medical marijuana bill?

(Jim Mone/Associated Press)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- If Gov. John Kasich signs a medical marijuana bill into law, it will be months before it goes into effect.

After that, it could be more than a year before patients could walk into a dispensary and buy a marijuana brownie or cannabis oil.

What happens between now and then?

A lot.

The bill leaves many questions unanswered, but here's what we know.

First, Kasich has to sign it.

House Bill 523 is not officially law until inked by Kasich or if 10 days pass after he's received the bill.

Bills must be prepared by legislative staff and signed by legislative leaders, which can take a few days. The sheer volume of bills passed this week could slow down how soon Kasich sees the bill.

A Kasich spokesman wouldn't say Thursday whether he will sign House Bill 523.

"He's said if we need it and we got a good bill he'd be OK with it," spokesman Joe Andrews said.

Laws take effect 90 days after they are signed by the governor.

Not everyone will be able to legally use marijuana.

People with the following medical conditions will be able to use medical marijuana under the law: HIV/AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer's disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), 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, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette's syndrome, traumatic brain injury and ulcerative colitis.

Patients would need to get a recommendation from a licensed physician with whom they have an ongoing relationship. In other medical marijuana states, this is a form that can be printed from a state website and taken to a doctor's appointment. Because medical marijuana is not covered in health insurance programs, many doctors charge a fee for an office visit related to marijuana.

Marijuana use and possession would be legal for some this fall.

Patients who would qualify under the law and have permission of a doctor could possess and use marijuana, so long as the marijuana they use falls under the guidelines of the law. The same protection applies to parents of children who are patients. The bill provides an "affirmative defense" against prosecution for patients and caregivers under state law.

Where could they get their cannabis? The bill is silent on that. Presumably people would travel to legal states or buy it from Ohio's black market.

Dispensaries won't open for a while.

How quickly Ohio dispensaries can open depends on how quickly each regulatory agency completes its work. But opening days should be no later than September 2018. This process has taken several years in other states that have passed medical marijuana laws.

Here's a rough timeline of what to expect if the bill is signed by Kasich next week:

September: Affirmative defense is established.

October: 14-member bipartisan Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee is appointed by the governor and legislative leaders to help craft rules and regulations. The committee includes two pharmacists (one supporting medical marijuana, two physicians (one supporting medical marijuana, a nurse, a researcher and members representing each of the following interests: law enforcement, employers, labor, patients, caregivers, agriculture, mental health and drug and alcohol addiction treatment.

May 2017: Department of Commerce must determine how many cultivator licenses will be issued and set cultivator standards before this date.

Meanwhile, the Ohio State Pharmacy Board writes the rules for licensing dispensaries and the Ohio State Medical Board determines how physicians will qualify to recommend medical marijuana.

Employers should review their drug policies.

Ohio is an at-will state, meaning employers can fire employees for any reason or no reason at all. The bill protects that right by specifying that medical marijuana patients could be fired for marijuana use, even if it's not while at work and a doctor approved it, if the employer has a drug-free or zero tolerance policy on the books.

Christopher Lalak, an attorney at Benesch in Cleveland, said this is the perfect time for employers to review their workplace drug policies. In addition to the Ohio law, Lalak said, federal rules about automatic post-accident drug testing have changed.

Blanket post-accident testing, without cause, infringes on workers' privacy rights, according to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA is advising employers to limit such testing to situations where drug use likely contributed to the accident.

The law does not require employers to accommodate medical marijuana use nor does it require employers to enact drug-free policies. Lalak said some employers might decide to relax their drug policies to accommodate medical marijuana patients.

A November ballot measure would void the law.

Ohioans for Medical Marijuana still plans to push to get its amendment legalizing medical marijuana in the Ohio Constitution. The amendment lists qualifying conditions, establishes a licensing and regulatory structure and says taxpayers can sue if regulatory agencies don't meet certain deadlines.

If approved by a majority of voters, those details become part of the constitution, which trumps state law. In other words, parts of House Bill 523 -- such as its prohibition on smoking medical marijuana -- would likely be found unconstitutional in court and therefore unenforceable.

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