Legislators say medical marijuana should be studied

COLUMBUS — Medical marijuana is a hot topic with legislative leaders in Ohio this year.

Republican and Democratic leaders from both chambers discussed the issue during a panel at the Ohio Associated Press Legislative Preview Session at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center on Thursday.

A ballot initiative to legalize limited marijuana sales to 10 exclusive commercial facilities was defeated by voters last year, but leaders in the legislature say the issue of medical marijuana, which has been legalized in some form in 23 states and the District of Columbia, is worth looking into.

Speaker of the House Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, said he was a “big opponent” of the ballot initiative and that he hadn’t seen evidence of medical marijuana “doing good.”

However, he did support the establishment of a task force to study the legalization of medical marijuana, which he said would allow input on the issue and help to get “clear, definitive answers.”

House Minority Leader Fred Strahorn, D-Dayton, also supported the task force, and said that it would allow people to get past the established narrative on the issue.

He said medical marijuana has helped those with seizures and epilepsy.

Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni, D-Boardman, spoke of the possible benefits.

“If we can improve quality of life for Ohioans, we should do it,” he said.

He said many doctors have said they would rather prescribe medical marijuana than a combination of opiates.

Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said he believed there is support in the Senate to do some kind of legislation on the topic, but said that the best delivery method for medical marijuana is not smoking.

He said that he worried legalization could lead to “doctor shopping,” in which patients would seek prescriptions for things such as “chronic dandruff or hangnails.”

He said issues such as dosage should also be looked at.

“The questions we should ask are ‘What’s the concentration?’ and ‘What’s the delivery method?”

On the national level, the marijuana plant has not been approved as medicine by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though the FDA has approved medications in pill form, which contain cannaboid chemicals, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a research institute of the federal government.

The members of the panel were asked if they had ever tried marijuana in the past.

Faber and Rosenberger answered in the negative.

“No, never,” Rosenberger said.

Faber said the main reason he didn’t try it was due to his father serving in law enforcement and not wanting to disappoint him.

Schiavoni and Strahorn said they had experimented with it in the past.

“I tried it in high school, didn’t like it, and haven’t used it since,” Strahorn said.

“I went to Ohio University and I have, in college,” Schiavoni said.

The question came from Laura Bischoff, the Columbus bureau reporter for the Dayton Daily news, who got leaders on the record on the topic throughout the day’s forums.

Several leaders admitted to having tried marijuana in the past, including Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, Secretary of State Jon Husted, Auditor David Yost and state Republican chair Matt Borges.

“I will plead guilty, in college. When else?” O’Connor said. “I might add, that’s the only drug I’ve ever used.”

Taylor said she couldn’t remember exactly when she had tried it, but that it was in her youth.

“It was a really long time ago,” she said.

Gov. John Kasich, who did not attend the forum, said last year in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that he tried the drug in his youth.

Those who said they never tried marijuana were state Democratic Party Chair David Pepper, Attorney General Mike DeWine and Treasurer Josh Mandel.