The race is on to cultivate medical marijuana in Ohio

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio

Ohio has built it, but will they come?

Prospective medical marijuana cultivators now know what Ohio rules for getting growers’ licenses looks like. They were finalized last week, and application forms were released Friday.

Ohio’s medical marijuana law allows people with 21 medical conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, HIV/AIDS and epilepsy, to purchase and use marijuana after getting a doctor’s recommendation. The law doesn’t allow smoking it.

The issue to watch is whether certain regulations will curb the program’s ability to get an adequate supply of medical cannabis to patients. Regulators say the rules balance access with public safety and can be revisited later.

“The most genuine answer that anyone can give about Ohio’s program is that this has never been done before, so we don’t know if it will work, or serve patients,” said Dr. Jahan Marcu, chief science officer at Americans for Safe Access. “So patients will just have to wait and see.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.