Advocates are pushing for the state program that would regulate medical marijuana to be ready to go as scheduled this fall, even though there are lawsuits and concerns over how the companies that won licenses to grow medical pot were selected.
Nicole Scholten of Cincinnati wants to try medical marijuana for her teenage daughter Lucy – who has cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy. Scholten says she’s frustrated hearing about companies that wanted to create multi-million dollar businesses filing lawsuits and insisting the license selection process start over.
“I’m here to let our policy makers know that we as patients hope there will be just as much concern, loud voices, and actions taken if this young program develops barriers to patient access.”
Some lawmakers are considering legislation to fix problems that have been found in the growing license application process. But Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko (D-Richmond Heights), a longtime medical pot advocate, says the program needs to be operational as promised in September.