As the drug epidemic continues to hit St. Lawrence County and the rest of North America, the State Health Department is hoping to reduce reliance on opioids by offering marijuana as an alternative.

The New York State Department of Health today announced the filing of emergency regulations adding any condition for which an opioid could be prescribed as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.

Effective immediately, registered practitioners may certify patients to use medical marijuana as a replacement for opioids, provided that the precise underlying condition for which an opioid would otherwise be prescribed is stated on the patient's certification. This allows patients with severe pain that doesn't meet the definition of chronic pain to use medical marijuana as a replacement for opioids.

With at least 14 deaths in St. Lawrence County from overdoses in 2016, St. Lawrence County filed a lawsuit in January against pharmaceutical companies and physicians over alleged aggressive and fraudulent marketing of prescription opioid painkillers.

Overdose deaths in the county have continued to rise. Many believe the over-prescription of opioid drugs like oxycodone have in part driven the heroin epidemic.

The proposed regulation from the state also adds opioid use disorder as an associated condition. This allows patients with opioid use disorder who are enrolled in a certified treatment program to use medical marijuana as an opioid replacement.

Plans to add opioid replacement as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana were first announced last month.

Opioid replacement joins the following 12 qualifying conditions under the state's Medical Marijuana Program: cancer; HIV infection or AIDS; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); Parkinson's disease; multiple sclerosis; spinal cord injury with spasticity; epilepsy; inflammatory bowel disease; neuropathy; Huntington's disease; post-traumatic stress disorder; and chronic pain.

These emergency regulations went into effect on a temporary basis on July 12, 2018. The department also filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on July 12, 2018, commencing the process of permanently adopting the regulations. The permanent regulations will be published in the New York State Register on August 1, 2018, and will be subject to a 60-day public comment period.

In addition, within the next week, certified patients and designated caregivers will be able to print temporary registry ID cards. This will allow them to purchase medical marijuana products more quickly after registering for the program. Patients may use the temporary registry ID card in conjunction with a government issued photo identification to purchase medical marijuana products from a registered organization's dispensing facility. Prior to this enhancement to the Medical Marijuana Data Management System, it could take 7 to 10 days for patients and their caregivers to receive their registry identification cards after their registration is approved.