An advisory board voted Monday to recommend adding 11 health conditions to the Illinois medical marijuana program. The board rejected three others because of a lack of scientific evidence or, in the case of diabetes, because of concern that marijuana would stimulate appetite in patients who need to watch their diets.
Under the Illinois medical marijuana law, the recommendations next need approval by Illinois Department of Public Health Director Nirav Shah, an appointee of Gov. Bruce Rauner. Then, regulations would be written that would go through a legislative rules process. It likely will take months before the new conditions become part of the program.
Patients must get a signed certification from a doctor as part of the application process to use medical marijuana in Illinois.
The following conditions were recommended by the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board:
_Anorexia Nervosa _Chronic Post-Operative Pain _Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome _Irritable Bowel Syndrome _Migraine _Neuro-Behcet's Autoimmune Disease _Neuropathy, peripheral and diabetic
_Osteoarthritis _Polycystic kidney disease _Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) _Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome
Rejected by the board:
_Anxiety
_Diabetes
_Essential Thrombcythemia with a JAK 2 mutation
