05/05/2018
OHIO PATIENT NETWORK SHOULD CALL ON STATE TO HIT RESTART AND GET IT RIGHT
GLA: MEDICAL MA*****NA PROGRAM CAN SUPPLY DEMAND WHILE LAWSUIT PROCEEDS
COLUMBUS – Ian James, Founder and President of Green Light Acquisitions, called on the Ohio Patient Network to insist the state stop playing politics with patients and children, and for the State of Ohio to move quickly to make medical ma*****na available through Level II Cultivation Licenses while it hits the restart button on the Medical Ma*****na Control Program (MMCP), to get it right.
“The Ohio Patient Network, in a Motion to Intervene in the CannAscend lawsuit against the Department of Commerce, reinforces the point we’ve been making for nearly five years – we need to provide compassionate care and medical ma*****na relief to sick and dying patients in this state,” James said. “Unfortunately, the Ohio Patient Network’s anger is misdirected and should be refocused on getting the Ohio Department of Commerce to admit Ohio’s Medical Ma*****na program is riddled with serious problems and needs a reboot of specific aspects of the process,” James said.
“At the same time, there is a remedy for ailing patients and sick children we can all embrace. The state of Ohio has the authority right now to authorize the dozen Level II Cultivators who each have 3,000 square feet of cultivation area, to satisfy the demand of more than 20,000 registered patients while the Courts decide the matter of Level I Cultivation,” James said.
“And the state has the authority to expand those licenses to 6,000 and ultimately 9,000 square feet each to meet the medicinal demand of more than 60,000 patients,” James said.
In addressing the state’s Registered Patient Population as outlined in the Ohio Patient Network Motion, James stated that the registered patient counts in states with Medical Ma*****na programs have historically reached two percent of the overall population four to five years after the implementation of the programs.
“Registered Patient Population growth is not immediate, and unfortunately under Ohio’s MMCP it has been virtually non-existent,” James said. “In Pennsylvania, where the Medical Ma*****na was signed into law 51 days before Ohio’s law, Pennsylvania has certified more than 5,000 doctors and registered more than 30,000 patients. In Ohio, we have fewer than 50 certified doctors and zero registered patients.
“The state and MMCP are suddenly expressing concern for patients so why can’t they tell us how many patients they estimate will be registered through the end of this year, or by March 31 or June 30, 2019? Isn’t this a reasonable question for the MMCP regulators and the state, and one that demands an answer?” James said.
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