COLUMBUS — In the biggest shift in state drug policy in decades, the Ohio House today voted 71-26 to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes only.

The bill now goes to the Senate. The upper chamber has made no commitment to move the bill, but it will waste no time starting hearings Wednesday. Ohio would become the 26th state to have some form of “medical marihuana” on the books.

Pot could not be smoked or grown at home, but patients under a physician’s supervision and armed with a state registration card could use cannabis in vapor, oil, patch, tincture, plant material, and edible form.

While the federal government continues to classify marijuana as a dangerous drug with no benefit, House Bill 523 would downgrade it in Ohio to Schedule II when it comes to monitored medical use to help with AIDS, epilepsy, pain management, and other issues.

The bill asks the federal government to do the same.

“As members of the General Assembly, we were elected to lead, not to be led down a road of a constitutional amendment that could never be changed,” said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Stephen Huffman (R., Tipp City), an emergency room physician.

He said he kept the Hippocratic oath that he took years ago and the best interests of patients in mind during the entire process.

“I am absolutely convinced there is therapeutic value in medical marijuana,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind.”

The bill drew emotional testimony as lawmakers described family members whose suffering may have been alleviated by marijuana while others struggled with whether it might worsen the state's drug problems.

The bill is designed to regulate and track marijuana production at every level from “seed to sale.” Patients with certain diseases and debilitating conditions who are armed with recommendations from their doctors could buy pot and related products from licensed retail dispensaries only.

A new nine-member state commission appointed by the governor and legislative leaders on both sides of the aisle would operate within the Department of Commerce to write the rules under which the system would operate and license pot growers, processors, retailers, and laboratories.

It could take anywhere from 18 months to two years before the first pot would be sold by a dispensary, and no pot could be legally consumed in the meantime. That sets it apart from competing constitutional amendments that are trying to get on the Nov. 8 ballot and, if approved by voters, would trump anything lawmakers pass.

The bill specifically lists 18 conditions for which medical marijuana is deemed appropriate.

They include AIDS, HIV, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy of other seizure disorders, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, “chronic, severe, or intractable” pain, Parkinson’s, post-traumatic stress syndrome, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord damage, Tourette’s syndrome, and traumatic brain syndrome.

The commission could add more later.

Rep. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo) was among the 26 “no” votes. She cited provisions that preserve employers' rights to fire or discipline workers who test positive for marijuana use even if they hold medical cards.

The bill also denies unemployment compensation to those workers and makes it tougher for them to qualify for workers' compensation if they're injured on the job while having marijuana in their systems.

“You can congratulate yourselves all your want..., but this is a cruel joke when citizens find out they have to leave Ohio to get a job,” Ms. Fedor said. “And I thought we were all about jobs all time.”

The bill even won the support of Rep. Ron Young (R., Leroy), one of the chamber's most conservative members who has opposed bills like needle-exchange programs because he feared they would enable drug users.

“On the one hand, I have my supporters who are adamantly against this..., and on the other hand we have a situation where drug dealers could actually be a in position where they write our legislation," he said. "They usurp our constitution....The people are all too ready to support anything that contains medical marijuana...

“This particular bill has a lot of guardrails on it that give me some piece of mind,” Mr. Young said.

First Published May 10, 2016, 5:03 p.m.