An Illinois advisory board has voted against recommending that anxiety and diabetes be added to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana. NBC Chicago’s Charlie Wojciechowski reports.
An Illinois advisory board has voted against recommending that anxiety and diabetes be added to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana.
The vote at a public hearing in Chicago was one of several votes held Monday on various conditions submitted by public petition. Board members said anxiety was too broad, but left open the possibility of adding severe anxiety to the list in the future.
The board approved the use of medical marijuana for the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome by a vote of 10-0 and the treatment of migraines by a vote of 8-2. The board also approved medical marijuana for patients with diabetic and peripheral neuropathy, osteoarthritis and polycystic kidney disease.
The hearing also dealt with whether scientific evidence supports military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder should use marijuana to manage their symptoms.
An advisory board made up of patients, nurses, doctors and a pharmacist heard testimony. The board will make recommendations to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
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
