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It appears Illinois’ medical marijuana program will be expanded to new lengths following a judge’s mandate to include intractable pain as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana, a move that is expected to make MMJ far more accessible in the state.
Illinois’ Medical Marijuana Program Receives A Much-Needed Boost
While the Illinois Department of Public Health had initially rejected intractable pain( or pain that doesn’t respond to traditional treatment methods), as a qualifying condition, Cook County Circuit Judge Raymond Mitchell overturned the controversial decision during a court session on Friday.
“The record shows that individuals with intractable pain would benefit from the medical use of cannabis,” Mitchell wrote in his final ruling, citing papers from two medical journals that together reviewed 45 clinical studies of medicinal cannabis treating chronic pain. The judge also added that the extensive studies found that any adverse effects of medical marijuana were, in general, not serious and well-tolerated by patients.
Rolling Meadows resident Ann Mednick, the woman whose lawsuit spawned Mitchell’s ruling, says she is prescribed opioid painkillers to deal with the extreme pain associated with osteoarthritis but wants a treatment option with fewer side effects.
“Illinois is years behind the times,” Mednick said. “The state needs to get [it] together.”
Last year, Mednick petitioned the state to add intractable pain as a qualifying condition but was spurned by Illinois Department of Public Health.
At the time, Dr. Nirav Shah, the director of the health department, alluded to a clear “lack of high-quality data” from clinical trials, a note of contention that clearly differs from Judge Mitchell’s ultimate ruling. Shah has been a noted stickler when it comes to MMJ, and his