Jan. 07--Illinois is now accepting petitions to expand the list of medical conditions that qualify for treatment with marijuana -- though officials have yet to name the board that will decide the issue.
The state also hasn't named which applicants will be awarded licenses to grow and sell medical pot, which officials had planned to do before the end of 2014.
"I am working on that, our agencies are working on that as required by law," Gov. Pat Quinn said Tuesday on whether the licenses will be announced before he hands the office to Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner on Monday. "But they have to do it right. It's a complicated matter."
The state must review 369 applications for 81 shops and grow houses.
The delays are frustrating patients, who have waited for medical marijuana since the law took effect at the start of 2014, said Dan Linn, director of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws' Illinois chapter.
He also expressed concern that the state had approved only 600 patients as of early December.
"If the state wants this to be successful, they've got to start moving quicker," Linn said.
If the law had allowed patients to grow medical marijuana at home -- as 15 other states do, according to the Marijuana Policy Project -- they'd already have the drug available, Linn said.
Despite the delays, the state is accepting petitions through Feb. 28 to add new qualifying medical conditions. Petitions are online at the Illinois Department of Public Health website.
The Medical Cannabis Advisory Board will hold a public hearing to consider petitions and then recommend approval or denial to the Department of Public Health.
The law lists about three dozen conditions that can qualify someone to apply to use marijuana legally, including cancer, glaucoma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Each petition may nominate only one condition, and it must be specific, according to state requirements. Petitions should include information about how medical marijuana may improve the patient's condition compared to conventional treatments.
Each petition should include any supporting research or letters of support from physicians or other licensed health care providers knowledgeable about the condition.
The advisory board, to be appointed by the governor, will include patients, caregivers and health care professionals.
The most likely condition to be added, advocates say, is post-traumatic stress disorder, which could help veterans. A more controversial addition would be for chronic or severe pain, which qualifies in some other states, but there has been debate over how the condition is defined or diagnosed.
Tribune reporter Monique Garcia contributed.
rmccoppin@tribpub.com
Twitter @RobertMcCoppin
