As laws regarding marijuana use and possession continue to change, the lawyers at The Martinez Firm understand that people are left confused and afraid when they find themselves on the other side of a marijuana OVI arrest. We know that regardless of the weight or form of cannabis in your possession, or the intent, a marijuana drug arrest can have devastating effects on your life and career. Our criminal defense attorneys will aggressively work to reduce or in some cases dismiss the charges against you.
Ohio Medical Marijuana
In 2016, the Ohio legislature passed HB 523 which established the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP) that allows State Medical Board approved doctors to prescribe medical marijuana to those individuals who meet certain qualifying medical conditions. These medical conditions include AIDS – HIV, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s Disease, Cancer, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), Crohn’s Disease, Epilepsy or another seizure disorder, Fibromyalgia, Glaucoma, Hepatitis C, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Chronic Intractable and Severe Pain, Parkinson’s Disease, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sickle Cell Anemia, Spinal Cord Disease or injury, Tourette’s Syndrome, Traumatic Brain Injury and Ulcerative Colitis. As of 2021, over 230,000 Ohioans had registered with OMMCP.
In January 2019, the first Ohio medical marijuana dispensaries opened and began selling non-smoking forms of marijuana. Once an individual is added to the OMMCP registry, they can obtain their Ohio medical marijuana card from a dispensary.
Marijuana OVI
Just as the Ohio medical marijuana laws may confuse you, they have also caused misunderstanding and problems for law enforcement officials. This has led to the wrongful arrest and prosecution of residents who aren’t familiar with the Ohio medical marijuana laws. Due to the lack of proper training and understanding of the law, there has been a dramatic increase in marijuana OVI arrests.
Unfortunately, Ohio’s Impaired Driving Laws created a “per se” limit for marijuana metabolites in a person’s system that has no relation to impairment. Having marijuana metabolites in your system simply indicates past use and the metabolites are the inactive, broken down components of the psychoactive component of marijuana which is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. Under Ohio law, the threshold limit for a Marijuana OVI is 35 nanograms (ng) of marijuana metabolites per milliliter (ml) of urine or 50 ng of marijuana metabolites per ml of blood. As such, a person who is legally prescribed medical marijuana may be prosecuted under Ohio’s Marijuana OVI laws even if they don’t have the psychoactive components of marijuana (THC) in their system at the time they are operating a vehicle.
Ohio Marijuana Crime
If you don’t have an Ohio medical marijuana card, it is illegal for you to use, or be in possession of cannabis. For an individual that is arrested and convicted of a marijuana drug crime, it is likely that they will face a prison sentence along with a mandatory suspension of their driver’s license. For non-United States citizens, a conviction of a drug crime can lead to your deportation.
The Martinez Firm lawyers will work tirelessly to prevent you from facing serious consequences by lodging constitutional challenges to stop and searches. Additionally, our criminal defense lawyers will work closely with detectives, FBI investigators, and ATF and DEA agents to ensure your rights are protected.
If you are in the Cleveland area and are facing any of these various drug charges, we are the attorney for you:
- Possession of marijuana drug paraphernalia
- Distribution of illegal drugs
- Marijuana trafficking
- Illegal cultivation or growth of marijuana
- Large drug conspiracies including those charged as a federal crime
- Marijuana OVI
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