The article stated that inflammatory auto immune-mediated arthritis was recently approved to be added to the list. It also stated that migraine and bi-polar disorder were up for consideration, but did not get added to the list.
This got me to thinking (and researching) and I found that in each of the 14 states that currently have medical marijuana laws on the books, the section in the law called "approved conditions" tends to differ slightly from state to state.
Considering some of the other inconsistencies and frankly, bizarre interpretations of the laws (see last two posts), it should not come as a surprise to anyone that the conditions under which medical marijuana is approved vary from state to state and leave plenty of room for disagreements over interpretation.
Before you apply for a medical marijuana card, I highly recommend going to your state's government web site and looking up the exact wording in the law, but here is an overview of some of the current laws.
Almost all the states agree on 8 main conditions:
Cachexia – Physical wasting with loss of weight and muscle mass caused by disease.
AIDS/HIV – AIDS is a disease that weakens the immune system to the point where an affected person is vulnerable to a wide range of infections and cancers that result in death if not treated.
Chronic Pain – Pain that persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments. Maine does not list this condition.
Epilepsy – brain disorder in which clusters of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain sometimes signal abnormally causing strange sensations, emotions, and behavior, or sometimes convulsions , muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness. Nevada doesn’t call this out, or MS specifically, but lists persistent muscle spasms or seizures.
Multiple Sclerosis – a disease in which the nerves of the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) degenerate.
Severe Nausea – the sensation that the stomach wants to empty itself, while vomiting (emesis) or throwing up, is the act of forcible emptying of the stomach.
Cancer – the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancerous cells are also called malignant cells.
Glaucoma – a disease of the major nerve of vision, called the optic nerve. Vermont does not list this condition.
Beyond these eight, some states add some interesting conditions to the list.
New Mexico is the only state that includes Hospice patients in the list. Considering that the main purpose of Hospice is to give supportive care to people in the final phase of a terminal illness and focus on comfort and quality of life, this seems extremely appropriate. New Mexico also calls out painful Peripheral Neuropathy and I expect this could probably fall under the chronic pain classification of other states.
Michigan includes Nail Patella, a hereditary condition characterized by abnormally formed or absent nails and underdeveloped or absent kneecaps. The Michigan Medical Marijuana Certification Center states that medical marijuana helps with the associated pain of this condition, so I expect this could probably fall under the chronic pain classification of other states as well.
Rhode Island is joined by Michigan in adding Alzheimer's disease to their lists, although a recent study published in the latest issue of “Current Alzheimer Research” challenges the assertion that marijuana is beneficial for Alzheimer’s patients.
New Jersey specifies terminal illness, if the physician has determined a prognosis of less than 12 months of life. This specification seems to be able to overlap into many of the aforementioned conditions.
California in the only state to specify Migraine, although I can say from 23 years of personal experience that this disease can fall into both the chronic pain and the severe nausea category.
Several states do include a caveat at the end of their list that is reminiscent of the beloved last words on every job description (the infamous, 'and all other duties as assigned') stating things such as: "other conditions are subject to approval by" … or, "any other medical condition or treatment for a medical condition adopted by" … and, "any other medical condition or its treatment that is approved by …"
So once again, Joe and Jane Public are left sifting through the convoluted and conflicting legalese of his or her state to see if their condition is covered. I think that you will agree that the conditions listed above deserve to be treated by any and all means available to bring relief to the patient. If Marijuana is empirically, experimentally shown to bring even some level of comfort for the people who are suffering, then nothing should stand in the way of all states passing a federal medical marijuana law - the first step to the real goal of Ending Prohibition, once and for all.
