When Can I Register For Ohio Medical Marijuana Patient Registration

Marijuana grows in the newly opened Cresco Labs medical marijuana plant in Yellow Springs, Ohio, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018.

COLUMBUS – The look for medical marijuana in Ohio is almost over.

The state medical board told physicians Monday they can now annals patients with 1 of 21 qualifying medical conditions and their caregivers through the state'southward online registration organization.

For thousands of Ohioans, the registry opening marks the cease of years of waiting for the state'due south medical marijuana plan to start. And information technology means dispensaries volition open up soon. But when the state's first dispensaries open in the coming weeks, there won't be much marijuana on the shelves and it will go rapidly.

The registry was supposed to open up in July but was put on hold because country-licensed growers were still several months away from their get-go harvests. The Ohio Board of Chemist's, which operates the registry, said information technology would non permit patients and caregivers to register any earlier than threescore days before product is available for auction.

That's considering Ohio law gives patients an "affirmative defense" against prosecution for marijuana possession if a doctor has recommended they use marijuana to treat a qualifying status and they are otherwise following land constabulary. That defence force expires 60 days later the registry opens.

State regulators were confident in that location will exist modest amounts of product available earlier Feb. i, 2019, when the affirmative defense force expires.

"Industry has given us preliminary information that they conceptualize medical marijuana being grown and gear up for sale in the coming weeks," medical board spokeswoman Tessie Pollock said in an email.

How many weeks?

State officials are hesitant to requite a engagement, merely here'southward where things stand:

ii pocket-sized-calibration growers accept already harvested their offset crops and one large-scale grower volition harvest in the next couple weeks. 13 of the 27 licensed cultivators have passed final inspections and can grow marijuana.
one of the 56 state-licensed dispensaries had a final inspection on November. 21, but has non yet passed.
all marijuana blossom and infused products accept to be tested for purity and say-so by an independent lab, but none have opened yet. Two are scheduled for terminal inspections in mid-Dec.

That timeline puts the first sales at the stop of December or in early January, but there won't be much on the shelves until later in January and Feb.

"We're expecting it will ramp up more than quickly than in some other states," Ohio Section of Commerce Department spokeswoman Kerry Francis said.

Hither'southward everything you demand to know about the registry.

How to register

The commencement step is to visit one of the 336 physicians certified to recommend medical marijuana.

The md will certify:

there is a bona fide patient-doc relationship.
the patient has a qualifying medical condition.
the physician has discussed the benefits and risks of medicinal cannabis.
the physician has reviewed the patient's records in the state'due south controlled substances database.

Patients tin can designate up to two caregivers who tin can buy and administer cannabis. Caregivers, who must exist at least 21 years old, are limited to two patients.

Patients and caregivers need to bring an unexpired country driver'due south license or ID card or U.S. passport with them to the doctor'due south office. (Yep, small-scale patients need photograph ID, as well.)

Patients and caregivers volition then receive an email with a link to confirm the registration and pay an annual registration fee of $50. The fee is $25 for veterans and individuals on federal disability programs.

The bill of fare expires one year from the concluding day of the month of registration.

Upon payment, a carte can be downloaded. You can impress a copy or show an electronic version on your jail cell phone when at a dispensary.

How to use the card

A patient registry carte and photo ID must be presented at a state-licensed dispensary.

State rules require medical marijuana to be stored deeply in the dispensary container with its original label.

Sales are tracked in the country'southward controlled substances database, and patients are express to a "90-day supply" at whatever given time, per land law.

How much can be bought

Country regulators define supply in terms of THC content. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is a marijuana compound that generates a high. Another popular compound, cannabidiol or CBD, does non generate a loftier, and therefore, someone can buy and possess much greater amounts of products high in CBD and low in THC.

So a patient could purchase 30 days worth of dried flower on his first dispensary trip, just would be limited to 60 days worth of marijuana products until 90 days after that first buy.

Hither are the 90-solar day equivalents of each type of product:

Up to 8 ounces of cannabis at or below 23 percent THC
Upwards to 5.three ounces of cannabis between 23 percentage and 35 percent THC
Patches, lotions, creams, and other topical forms of medical cannabis totaling no more than 26.55 grams of THC.
Upwards to 9.ix grams of THC from cannabis oil, tincture, capsules, and other edible forms.
Oil for vaporization containing upward to 53.1 grams of THC

If you have additional questions near Ohio's medical marijuana program, you can call the state's toll-free assist line: 1-833-4OH-MMCP (1-833-464-6627).