About a week after opening the state of Ohio's Patient and Caregiver Registry, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy announced that more than 1,000 people had already successfully registered for a card that will allow them to purchase medicinal marijuana.
Authorized physicians use the registry, which opened Dec. 3, to recommend other caregivers and patients suffering from conditions like cancer, AIDS, post-traumatic stress disorder and a number of others. The state then confirms the patient's identity, after which the patient or caregiver can sign up for the card. That card will allow holders to purchase marijuana from certified dispensaries when they open.
The first dispensaries should be open by early 2019, officials at the Pharmacy Board say, though they caution that early supply could sell out quickly as certified marijuana growers continue to work to get up and running and produce crops.
The registration costs $50 a person, or $25 if you're a veteran or caregiver.
The Pharmacy Board says physicians have filed more than 1,948 recommendations via the system. Of those, 1,062 people have filled out an online form to register for the card so far.
Registered buyers will be limited to a 90-day supply of any medicinal marijuana product, officials say.
That's measured by THC content and is the equivalent of eight ounces of cannabis at or below 23 percent THC or about five ounces of cannabis with higher concentrations of THC. Topical forms of medical cannabis can total no more than 26 grams of THC. Buyers can purchase up to roughly 10 grams of THC in edible products, or cannabis oil for vaporization as long as it contains no more than 53 grams of THC.
