Marijuana certified doctors: Ohio is months away from releasing medicinal cannabis to the public. Official licenses for growers, producers, and dispensaries are still pending, and the patient database is in its beginning stages.
The state legislators are taking the necessary steps to ensure that when the sales begin, every component of the program is in place. Since April of this year, the Ohio State Medical Board has been reviewing physician applications. Currently, the board has approved 185 physicians to recommend medical marijuana to their patients.
Marijuana Certified Doctors: Criteria
Before a doctor is approved to become a physician that can legally recommend medicinal cannabis, they are required to do a bit of studying on the topic.
First, these doctors must sit through two credit hours of continued education on medical marijuana the state's designated and on approved medical conditions. This isn't all they have to do though; in order for a patient to receive medical marijuana, the doctor must certify in writing that they have an active and real relationship with their patient.
These approved physicians will also be required to dig into their patient's substance abuse history and may have to change the course of treatment if anything is found. Ohio has a controlled substance database like most states, and this must be checked before prescribing medicinal cannabis.
Dispensaries Closed
Before you jump the gun and try to find one of these 185 physicians, you should know that dispensaries are still closed. However, some physicians are already meeting with patients and writing marijuana recommendations.
Patients still must qualify to buy and use the cannabis, but chronic pain will most likely represent the majority of the enrollees. The state's program will start out fairly slow, but they are predicting between 5,000 and 50,000 patients within the first two years.
Dispensary sales are still months away, but it's better to get all your ducks in a row to stay state compliant before its official launch.
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