Ohio may allow patients with autism or who are experiencing anxiety to buy medical marijuana.

The State Medical Board of Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Expert Review committee unanimously recommended Wednesday that the two conditions be added to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. The conditions will now go to a full vote by the State Medical Board on June 12.

The committee, also unanimously, declined to recommend medical marijuana to treat opioid use, depression and insomnia. The full medical marijuana board will vote on those conditions without the recommendation.

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“There is zero evidence that people with opioid addiction who are given medical marijuana use fewer opioids,” Dr. Ted Parran, an adviser to the committee, said over the telephone during the meeting.

Ohioans can consume marijuana and marijuana products if they receive a recommendation from a doctor. To receive a recommendation, patients must have at least one of 21 conditions, which now include Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, chronic pain or post-traumatic stress disorder. More conditions can be added each year by the State Medical Board.

The State Medical Board of Ohio allowed people to submit petitions to add qualifying conditions to the list in November and December, and Ohioans submitted 110 petitions. After reviewing the petitions, the board chose to move forward with the five additional conditions.

Dr. Gary L. Wenk said recommending medical marijuana to people with autism is the right thing to do, but he said he has some concerns recommending it to children.

“In the long run they would benefit,” Wenk said over the phone during the committee meeting. “However, you are dealing with a very immature brain.”

Dr. Solomon Zaraa recommends that anxiety be an allowed condition for medical marijuana.

“There is always the risk that someone will self-medicate and maybe push the envelope for (a) more recreational-type situation,” Zaraa said over the phone during the meeting. “However, most of my severe anxiety patients now with medical issues will describe a clear wall that they’ve hit with dosing and very uncomfortable effects afterwards.”

He has mixed feelings, however, about prescribing medical marijuana to children for anxiety. Parents would have to dispense, monitor and lock away medical marijuana and frequently report back on how the treatment is going.

Medical marijuana was legalized in Ohio on Sept. 8, 2016. Ohio’s medical marijuana sales started Jan. 16 at the CY+ dispensary in Wintersville, in northeastern Ohio, and three other dispensaries. Statewide sales totaled $5.8 million through Sunday, with 750 pounds of plant material sold.

Of the 56 dispensaries in the state, only 15 had received certificates of operation as of Wednesday. Franklin County has been approved for five dispensaries, all of them in Columbus, but only Terrasana Cannabis Co. on Grandview Avenue is open. The dispensary opened March 26.

The other Columbus dispensaries are Greenleaf Apothecaries, 111 Vine St.; 127 OH, 1361 Georgesville Rd.; Harvest of Ohio, 2950 N. High St.; and Verdant Creations, on Cassady Avenue.

mhenry@dispatch.com

@megankhenry