Pubdate: Wed, 21 May 2008
Source: Mount Vernon News (OH)
Copyright: 2008 Progressive Communications
Contact:  http://www.mountvernonnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4007
Author: Anton Hepler, News Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?197 (Marijuana - Medicinal - Ohio)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL PROPOSED IN OHIO

COLUMBUS - Ohio Sen. Tom Roberts, D-Dayton, unveiled details of the 
Ohio Medical Compassion Act on Tuesday, which if adopted, "would 
allow patients to use medicinal cannabis through a regulated system 
of quality health care."

If enacted, Ohio would join 12 other states that have currently 
de-criminalized the use of medicinal marijuana.

According to Roberts, the legislation would allow qualified patients 
and primary caregivers to use medicinal cannabis through a cardholder system.

Tonya Davis, a medicinal marijuana user who assisted in drafting the 
bill, said that under the proposed legislation, only a patient with a 
medical condition or illness that is sufficiently serious or 
debilitating, and who has the approval of his or her medical 
practitioner, will be able to use cannabis. Davis suffers from a host 
of debilitating medical conditions, including domestic 
violence-induced scoliosis, and is confined to a wheelchair.

"It's time that Ohio just look at the science and with it being well 
regulated, hopefully ... we'll be able to protect the patients more," 
Davis told the News.

Roberts' proposed legislation would call on the Ohio Departments of 
Health and Agriculture to establish an advisory board to regulate the 
use of medicinal marijuana. The program would be run under a 
cardholder system, and the board would be responsible for reviewing 
the use of cannabis in cases of debilitated medical conditions, 
reviewing applications for registry identification cards and 
providing recommendations for the safe growing and use of medical cannabis.

"After talking with Tonya [Davis] on and off for the last two years, 
I've had the opportunity to meet people who've had these debilitating 
conditions that this kind of medical treatment could help," Roberts 
told the News. "When crafting this bill, we took the best practices 
from across the country and put them into the Ohio Medical Compassion Act."

Additionally, Davis said, the bill would prohibit cardholders from 
performing tasks under the influence that would constitute negligence 
or malpractice, possessing or using on school grounds or correctional 
facilities, and driving under the influence.

The bill would also prohibit the smoking of marijuana in public and 
would not require employers to accommodate the use of cannabis in the 
workplace. It also establishes that a patient may not possess more 
than 200 grams of marijuana and 12 mature plants for personal use.

Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for 
the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told the News that if passed, the new 
law should not be that problematic since Ohio is already a 
de-criminalized state.

"These patients should be protected from going into the justice 
system any further than an initial arrest," said St. Pierre. "At the 
prosecutorial level, [prosecutors] should be able to take a deep 
breath, look at the law, and in most cases, if the person complied 
with the [medicinal] law, then these individuals will not go any 
further through the criminal justice system. Society at this point 
realizes that for a person who is sick and dying, a jail cell should 
not be a prescription."

St. Pierre said that Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin and Michigan all have similar legislation pending voter approval.

For now, Roberts said he plans to formally introduce the bill in the 
Senate this morning, where it will soon be referred to committee for 
hearing. Roberts said Davis and others are expected to testify to the 
committee about the benefits of the proposed legislation.

"I'm just so humbled and touched that this is finally going to 
happen," said Davis. "I just hope I live to see this bill pass." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake