Thoughts from the void: Cannabis and Ohio

According to an article, there were 26350 unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2018, and opioids were involved in 20793 deaths (78.9%). Drug overdose was associated with 1026821 YLL (years of life lost) and was the third leading cause of excess mortality after malignant neoplasms (3944244 YLL) and heart disease (3235989 YLL).

Ohio's cannabis journey has progressed in the last couple of years. 5 out of 6 cities that took cannabis decriminalization to the ballot, namely Dayton, Fremont, Norwood, Oregon and Windham, passed it. Meanwhile medical cannabis progressed with the state approving testing labs, a mandatory precursor to opening dispensaries or retail outlets in most places. This allowed cannabis product in dispensaries to be tested and for the dispensaries to be granted licenses. Physicians were given the go ahead to register medical cannabis patients and their caregivers in an online registration system. Patients with any of the following 21 medical conditions were eligible - AIDS, HIV-positive status, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, epilepsy or another brain-seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, chronic/severe/intractable pain, Parkinson's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell disease, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette syndrome, traumatic brain injury. It is estimated that about 3.5 million Ohioans deal with at least one of the qualifying conditions. Ohio's population is 11.66 million. Ohioans are asking for more ailments to be added to the list.

Once dispensaries opened, only 28% of patients purchased cannabis in the first three months citing high prices, remote locations and restrictive purchase limits as barriers. The state garnered $1.85 million in medical cannabis sales in under two months. 'Dispensary owners prepared for large crowds on what is essentially the program's opening day. They set up space heaters and heated tents for waiting customers and served coffee and hot chocolate; food was prohibited by the state's strict rules for the industry. Dried marijuana flower – the only product available at first – was priced around $50 per 2.83 g. State regulations require plant material to be packaged and sold in 2.83 g amounts – one-tenth of an ounce that growers have nicknamed an "Ohio tenth."' according to The Enquirer.

At least one credit union has come forward to offer limited banking services to the cannabis industry.

At least 35 US states have legalized cannabis for medical use so far. The federal US government however continues to keep cannabis in the Schedule 1 list of banned substances saying that it has no medicinal value. The list of US states that have legalized adult recreational cannabis is available here. All these states have legalized cannabis for adult recreational use, aimed specifically at improving public health, ensuring equity, reducing crime, decreasing the black market, improving law enforcement, reforming criminal justice, improving the economy, agriculture and industry, to name just a few reasons.

Listed below are articles taken from various media related to the above subject. Words in italics are the thoughts of your truly at the time of reading the article.

'I had 1/16-ounce of junk with me. I figured this was enough to taper off, and I had a reduction schedule carefully worked out. It was supposed to take twelve days. I had the junk in solution, and in another bottle distilled water. Every time I took out a dropper of solution out to use it, I put the same amount of distilled water in the junk solution bottle. Eventually I would be shooting plain water. This method is well known to all junkies. A variation of it is known as the Chinese cure, which is carried out with hop and Wampole's tonic. After a few weeks, you find yourself drinking plain Wampole's Tonic.

Four days later in Cincinnati, I was out of junk and immobilized. I have never known one of these self-administered reduction cures to work. You find reasons to make each shot an exception that calls for a little extra junk. Finally, the junk is all gone and you still have your habit' - Junky, William S Burroughs, 1977, originally published in 1953

'There were 26350 unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2018, and opioids were involved in 20793 deaths (78.9%). Among 1026821 YLL[years of life lost], the groups who experienced highest YLL were white individuals (916144 YLL [89.2%]), men (663722 YLL [64.6%]), and individuals aged 30 to 39 years (328007 YLL [31.9%]) or 20 to 29 years (259144 YLL [25.2%]). Drug overdose was associated with 1026821 YLL and was the third leading cause of excess mortality after malignant neoplasms (3944244 YLL) and heart disease (3235989 YLL). The Figure illustrates drug overdose YLL among leading causes of excess mortality.'
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7139273/

'Ohio regulators have recommended adding cachexia, or wasting syndrome, to the list of conditions that qualify for medical marijuana recommendations, which could slightly increase sales for the state’s MMJ dispensaries.

The state medical board committee proposed adding that condition but rejected adding autism and anxiety to the list, according to The (Cincinnati) Enquirer.

The board is expected to finalize its decision during a meeting in July.

Cachexia causes severe weight loss and can be associated with chronic conditions such as cancer and HIV or AIDS.'
https://mjbizdaily.com/ohio-approves-another-medical-cannabis-qualifying-condition-rejects-two-others/