In comparing what is allowed in Michigan to what’s allowed in Connecticut, the latest “medical marihuana” state, I am quite impressed.

Conditions that are spelled out in Connecticut, but not in Michigan are: Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Conditions covered in Michigan, but not in Connecticut are: hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, agitation of Alzheimer's disease, nail patella. Also included are chronic/debilitating diseases/conditions/treatments that produce: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures characteristic of epilepsy and persistent muscle spasms, characteristic of multiple sclerosis.

Just stating those conditions which produced seizures characteristic of epilepsy; and which ones leave the patient with persistent muscle spasms characteristic of multiple sclerosis, created quite a list. Thus far, I have found: epilepsy, low sodium or glucose, blood vessel is defective in the brain, head injury, cavernous hemangioma, arteriovenous malformation, encephalitis, meningitis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), kidney failure, liver failure, heart disease, high blood pressure, migraines, narcolepsy, Tourette's syndrome, dystonia, abnormal blood vessels of the brain, CNS tumors, degeneration of the nervous system, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), sarcoidosis, spinal vascular malformations, stroke, Binswanger’s disease, neurosyphilis, human T-cell lymphotrophic virus-1 (HTLV-1), Myasthenia Gravis (MG), Benign essential tremor, Wernicke's encephalopathy, Parkinson's disease, Tetany, and multiple sclerosis to be part of the list.

Cachexia, also known as Wasting Syndrome, describes a condition in which the body begins the involuntary loss of more than 10% of the body weight from muscle and fat deterioration. Additionally, there will be more than 30 days of diarrhea and/or weakness and fever.

Cachexia can be caused by: AIDS, cancer, HIV-1 disease, Endocarditis, Paraneoplastic syndrome, Visceral leishmaniasis, Mastocytosis, Brucellosis, Systemic lupus erythematosus, Lung abscess, lymphocytic leukaemia, Hepatitis B, Metastatic neoplasm, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Polyarteritis nodosa, Sarcoidosis, Renal failure, Congestive heart failure, Tuberculosis, or COPD/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cachexia is covered in Connecticut, but are the conditions that cause it covered?

Severe nausea can be caused by: gastroenteritis, gallbladder disease, brain injury, brain tumor, some cancers, bulimia, Addison’s disease/hypocortisolism.

The Department of Community Health has been behind in adding conditions and diseases to the meaning of "Debilitating medical condition". Seeing what can legitimately be considered as covered under part of Section 3 a (2), there’s more there than I suspected.