Whether you are new to the MD cannabis community or still trying to apply, it can be such a confusing world if you are not familiar with it. I wanted to start with the basics for those of you who do need the information. Feel free to share or let me know how I can help explain things further. Please note that I am not on the MMCC, I am not a professional, and I am writing this as a suggested explanation or guideline from my perspective of being a patient for over 3 years now. There are some things you aren’t told or some things you might not know when you first get confirmation of your medical card.
How do you get certified?
Let’s start with the basics. You absolutely 100% have to have a doctor sign off on your certification. I have had numerous people tell me that they were “able to get around the whole doctor thing” and just went through the state. This is not possible. The first thing to know is that there is a TWO-step process for getting your medical card.
First you have to apply through the state. Typically costs around $50 to apply. They have been backed up for some time, but the typical turn-around time on these applications is 6-8 weeks. I am posting a current bulletin if you are currently trying to obtain your medical card.
You need to make sure that you have everything they ask for on the application and to their specifications or it will be sent back to you for corrections. The more corrections you need to make, the longer it is going to take you as this will place you back in the hypothetical queue for review. They are behind on sending these cards out, so when you first get your approval, it would be beneficial to write this Patient ID number down for easy access when you would like to go to any dispensary.
Once you get the confirmation from the state that your card is active, you can then get an appointment with a doctor to authorize your certification. I have linked a list of all Public Registered Providers in Maryland. When your card gets approved, this keeps your medical certification of the physical card valid for 3 years. The doctor’s certification needs to be renewed every year – I think of this as another prescription that I need to renew.
The doctor is in charge of the annual certification renewal, as well as giving you a prescribed allotment based on your medical needs. After your first year, you can discuss with them whether or not your allotment is sufficient for your needs. If you are someone who bakes a lot or uses more of the concentrates as your medication, you may need to discuss raising this allotment to better serve your needs. Some doctors will gladly raise this limit, but some will suggest using more CBD in your daily routine instead. It really depends if CBD works for you or if you are someone who only benefits from the medicinal properties of THC.
Here is a link if you are interested in applying to become a patient.
What is the first-time process at any dispensary?
When going to any dispensary for the first time, you will need a valid photo-ID and your Patient ID number. If you haven’t received your physical card in the mail yet, I would again suggest writing your Patient ID number down and/or attaching this to the back of your license or other valid photo ID as they will need both of these to create a profile. Setting up the initial profile takes a few minutes and will require the employee at reception to check your information in 2 separate databases – Metrc and OneStop. This is the case at each and every dispensary. You will need a valid photo ID for every entry into a dispensary.
Once they are able to confirm your certification is active, you will need to sign paperwork. This paperwork is pretty straightforward – you are confirming the following:
You will not operate a vehicle or other machinery while under the influence of medical cannabis.
You will not smoke cannabis in a public place.
You will not smoke cannabis in a motor vehicle.
You confirm that undertaking any task under the influence of medical cannabis will constitute negligence or malpractice.
You will not smoke medical cannabis on a property rented by a landlord or is subject to a policy that prohibits the smoking of medical cannabis on the property.
You are required to keep all medical cannabis away from children other than the qualifying patient. You are required to take steps to prevent children from obtaining or using medical cannabis.
You are confirming that obtaining medical cannabis does not exempt a qualifying patient or caregiver from prosecution and penalties by Federal law, including possessing, transporting, or using medical cannabis on any federal property. These properties include but are not limited to: federal buildings and courthouses, federal parks, federal highways, and federal military bases. It is your responsibility to know the locations under federal jurisdiction.
You confirm that scientific research has not established the safety of the use of medical cannabis by pregnant women.
You confirm that the use of medical cannabis is to treat a medical condition is not approved by the US Food & Drug Administration.
Finally, you confirm that when you are in possession of medical cannabis, you will have your caregiver identification card and/or patient identification number with you and will present it upon request.
Some dispensaries have additional paperwork attached to this to confirm some additional legalities, such as understanding the side effect of cannabis, the current federal status of cannabis, and to confirm that only the qualifying patient is allowed to consume products purchased under the qualifying patient’s allotment. All paperwork from the state and individual dispensaries is required and you will not be allowed to purchase cannabis until these are completed. Once you learn what is required of the paperwork, you can complete this in 2 minutes or less!
How does my limit work?
Some people have automatically assumed that at the beginning of every month, you get a “refresh” of your allotted grams and they all come back to you on the first. This is not the case. The MD system runs on a rolling 30-day limit (press the link to learn more). Meaning that if you bought 2 ounces on the 2nd of January, it would be returned to you on the 2nd or 3rd of February, depending on how many days are in the month. Most dispensaries can tell you when to expect grams back by looking at the last month’s history and counting days.
My number one suggestion for managing your allotment is to keep all of your receipts. If you do have a monthly or weekly planner, you could also write it down in this. This will allow you to track how many grams out of your allotment that you are using, when they should be expected to come back into your allotment, and what you think of these strains. I find that writing down what I have bought allows me to track what strains I have or have not tried, as well as whether or not I liked something.
I also want to point out that a typical allotment is 120 grams of flower or 36 grams of concentrate. This makes 1g of concentrate equivalent to almost a full eighth of flower or 3.5g (3.33 to be exact). It will pull grams from the prospective side of the allotment whenever you purchase eighths, “flower” grams or ounces vs “THC” vapes, concentrates and oils.
Forms of Consumption
In Maryland, there are an increasing amount of options for the consumption of cannabis, though I will say that other states do have more versatile options. I am going to post a diagram below with a list of options.
The Maryland Medical Cannabis market is still expanding and evolving to grow with the rest of the cannabis community and the MMCC regulations. It is my hope that within the next few years we are able to see more of an expansive list of products, as well as education for patients. If there is anything I can do to help with these, you know I will be there.
Thank you for reading! Please let me know if there is anything else I should add or if I need to make any corrections. Please note again that I am not a professional in the MMCC, but a patient and budtender that wants to share what I know about these processes in order to make it easier on the next group of patients. Knowledge can definitely take you further in this industry and we are all in this together.
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