A proposal to alleviate the pain of being a Bengals and Browns fan has gone up in smoke.
Being a fan of the NFL’s franchises in Cincinnati and Cleveland does not meet the condition requirements to purchase medical marijuana, an Ohio medical board committee ruled Wednesday.
The panel that met in Columbus turned down several petitions regarding conditions that could help Ohio residents take advantage of a 2016 law that allowed them to buy marijuana medicinally.
In December, Cincinnati resident Vincent Morano being a “Browns/Bengals fan” was among the multiple petitions filed, according to documents released by the state’s medical board. The fandom was rejected among others that lacked the required support to continue with the process. In three of the past four years, one of those two franchises has been the worst in the NFL.
When the petition asked for letters of support by physicians with knowledge of the disease or condition, Morano replied by saying, “There’s not a physician in Ohio that will disagree.”
The Browns were winless in 2017 and recently made their sixth head-coaching change since the start of the 2010 season. In southern Ohio, the Bengals finished with the league’s worst record for the first time since 2002.
Since Cleveland’s franchise was rebooted in 1999 after being moved to Baltimore, neither the Browns nor the Bengals have won a playoff game.
Over the past few years, both sets of fans have hoped that the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft could provide long-term relief for their problems. The Browns went first in 2017 and 2018, and the Bengals have the top pick in this April’s draft.
On Wednesday, Morano told ESPN that he wasn’t surprised that his petition was rolled by the medical board committee.
Morano said he hopes the news doesn’t keep former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow from coming to Cincinnati if the Bengals drafted him.
When asked if he’d rather have his proposal approved or the quarterback, his answer was blunt and to the point.
“The other will come,” Morano said. “We’ve only got one shot at Burrow.”
