Connecticut Poised to Expand Qualifying MMJ Conditions

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Connecticut is moving forward with plans to add several new ailments to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana cards, which would give cannabis businesses an expanded customer base.

If all goes according to plan, dispensary owners will eventually be able to sell to registered patients with sickle cell disease, severe psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and recurring back pain after surgery.

Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris announced Monday that he will recommend adding the conditions to the list of ailments that can be treated by cannabis, according to the Hartford Courant. The program already includes 11 qualifying conditions.

Harris will now draft regulations adding the conditions to the list. Following a review process and public comments, the regulations will be sent to a General Assembly committee for a final vote.

Regulatory work to get the new conditions approved for cannabis could take six to nine months, but may take as long as a year, according to the Courant.

A state board of physicians earlier this month recommended Connecticut add the conditions to the program, but it dropped a request to add Tourette syndrome to the list.