BOARD RECOMMENDS 8 NEW CONDITIONS FOR MEDICAL-MARIJUANA USE

The Department of Health's Medical Advisory Board wants to let more
people with chronic conditions into the approved group of patients
that can use marijuana for medical purposes.i?1/2

The board will ask Health Secretary Alfredo Vigil to add eight new
conditions to 14 that have so far been included in the state Medical
Cannabis Program.i?1/2

The program provides protection from state prosecution for approved
users of medical marijuana. Patients must apply to the state to be
eligible.i?1/2

The proposed new conditions are: chronic muscle inflammation
accompanied by muscle weakness; severe osteoarthritis; rheumatoid
arthritis; reactive arthritis; post-polio syndrome; Parkinson's
disease; Alzheimer's; and severe chronic pain.i?1/2

Each condition must meet specific requirements to be eligible, and
the board is planning to provide data to back up the suggestions in
its final proposal, said Deborah Busemeyer, a spokeswoman for the
department.i?1/2

"The secretary will be looking for scientific evidence that the
conditions meet legal requirements," Busemeyer said. "That is, that
they are chronic, debilitating conditions where the patient can find
no relief elsewhere."i?1/2

Once the board finishes the proposal, Vigil will have 10 days to
decide if he will approve some or all of the list.i?1/2

"It depends on what's in the recommendations," Busemeyer said. "Last
time, though, he approved the majority of them, but not all of them."i?1/2

So far, the approved conditions are: cancer; glaucoma; multiple
sclerosis; epilepsy; spinal-cord damage with intractable spasticity;
HIV/AIDS; painful peripheral neuropathy; intractable nausea/vomiting;
severe anorexia/cachexia; hepatitis-C infection currently receiving
antiviral treatment; Crohn's disease; post-traumatic stress disorder;
and Lou Gehrig's disease. Hospice patients are also eligible.i?1/2

There are 284 patients in the program so far.i?1/2

The state also recently approved a license for the first nonprofit
group to produce and distribute marijuana to patients in the program.
The group hasn't yet started distribution.i?1/2