Medical marijuana patient registry triples in second month

New patient registry information released Thursday by state officials shows more than 10,000 people have been recommended marijuana for pain that is chronic and severe or cannot be treated with other medicines (Source: “Chronic pain driving registrations for medical marijuana in Ohio,” Cincinnati Enquirer, Feb. 7, 2019).

As of Thursday, 12,873 individuals were issued patient registry ID cards since the registry went live on Dec. 3, according to data released Thursday at an Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee meeting. That is three times as many as were registered after the first month.

Another 4,204 patients have been recommended medical marijuana by a state-certified physician but have not completed the registration process. For comparison, Pennsylvania, which has a similar list of qualifying medical conditions, issued just 7,000 patients registry cards five months after its registry opened.

Chronic pain was the top qualifying condition (10,910 patients). That was followed by post-traumatic stress disorder (2,622 patients) and fibromyalgia (1,973 patients).