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State advisory board says insomnia not acceptable condition to get medical marijuana

ALLEGHENY CO., Pa. — In its quarterly news conference, the Pa. medical marijuana advisory board voted 7-4 to reject an application to add insomnia to the list of medical conditions to be eligible for cannabis.

Part of that decision was due to concern that people under the age of 18 would use it.

Channel 11′s Gabriella DeLuca spoke to a mother who suffers from insomnia. She said the ability to use medical marijuana to assist her in falling sleep would be extremely helpful.

“If I don’t get a good night’s sleep or sleep at all, it impacts my ability to be a mother. It impacts my ability to handle and manage stress throughout the day,” said Jaymie Rubiano. “Without any assistance I could be up there for four hours.”

Rubiano has a newborn baby, a toddler, husband and full-time job. Right now, she takes THC gummies to fall asleep.

Some on the advisory board argued the long-term effects of using medical marijuana in a developing brain could be severe. However, others said cannabis is a better alternative to other drugs.

“The drugs that are approved for people to sleep -- Lunesta, Ambien, Tylenol PM -- they have a host of side effects that medical marijuana doesn’t. Until we can get studies down to show it’s a viable medication alternative, it’s kind of like the chicken and the egg situation,” one member said.