Is It Hard to Get a Medical Marijuana Card? Here’s What to Know
Marijuana has been legalized in the United States, in most states, for medical purposes. Marijuana is used extensively to help people with health-related problems such as anxiety and chronic pain. Therefore there is a card given to people that qualify to access marijuana for medical purposes. The process, however, depends on several factors, such as the state you reside in. Here’s what you need to know about what getting a medical marijuana card entails.
Strict Qualifying Conditions
To get the medical marijuana card, you must be issued a certification indicating that you are a legal pursuant of medical marijuana. There must be indeed proof that you are suffering from the conditions and diseases that medical marijuana can help with. A certified medical practitioner must be the one that recommended you for medical marijuana treatment. Your application will be eligible for approval and may be used in 60 days. You must prove eligibility by residence, identity card, age, and proof of guardian. In Virginia, the card must be renewed annually for you to continue enjoying the services. You should therefore consider the renewal process of medical marijuana in Virginia when you receive a notification from the Virginia Pharmacy Board because you cannot receive services further. You will be required to pay the renewal fee from where you will be able to continue with the services.
Felony Record
In many states, you cannot be given a medical marijuana card without a criminal record. In the U.S., a good percentage of adults have once been convicted. An individual with a felon record may fail to get other business licenses, real estate licenses, and approvals. A fellow with a criminal record has their rights reduced. However, this requirement may differ with different states and countries. Therefore it is best to avoid minor and serious convictions that may result in you failing to obtain medical marijuana when you need it the most.
Gun Ownership
Federal law clarified that individuals with gun ownership cannot and should not pursue a medical marijuana card. Under federal law, every marijuana user is a drug user because it has not been allowed at the federal level. The federal-level refers to medical marijuana users as drug addicts of controlled substances. It is known that an addict may be dangerous to self, so there is; now imagine one with a gun. If their perception of reality is tampered with, then you will find that they can hurt themselves and others. However, there was a lifted ban on the possession of both marijuana and gun, but the federal and state law are a bit conflicting because medical marijuana Is being sold in many stores legally. Additionally, medical marijuana does not contain the high that may cause misperception of reality.
Harmful drug interaction with Marijuana use
Certain medications include blood thinners and may interact with marijuana to cause harm to your body system. Examples of these medications include drugs for cancer treatment and HIV/AIDS. CBD’s processes result in metabolites lingering inside the body system for almost two weeks which interferes with enzymes responsible for pain drugs synthesizing. Therefore, physicians must be extremely keen in noticing when CBD is not being helpful to some patients and withdraw its use immediately before it causes further harm. The need for enzymes in the body is essential because it helps the body get rid of what it doesn’t need. So when marijuana interaction messes with this process, it will be difficult to get a medical marijuana card.
The Cost
The cost of a medical marijuana card may vary depending on the state you are coming from. The price range is around $50 to $200. This fee includes the medical consultation, certification, and application fee. It will be hard to get the medical marijuana card if you do not have this amount at the initial process or even at the time of renewal. This cost depends on the type of card you need or the complexity of your treatment. Some patients will need more scrutiny when getting their marijuana treatment because of the wide range of conditions they may be having, while others only have slight symptoms to some conditions, making it distinctive in the type of cards each receives.
If You Are a Military Personnel
Many states legalized medical marijuana, and more so, many are legalizing marijuana for recreational use. However, the army strictly prohibits any army personnel and those who wish to join the army from using even the smallest amounts of marijuana, even if they come from marijuana-legalized states. However, there have been ongoing talks and suggestions to allow military guys to use medicinal marijuana. The battlefield carries a lot of pain, scarring, PTSD, nightmares, etc. To treat all this, you will need a ton of medication daily to alleviate the pain and distress of such effects. However, when you look at the health benefits of medicinal marijuana, you will find that all these symptoms can be alleviated by it. The army guys could sleep better, reduce pain, minimize nightmares, stress, and anxiety, tremor attacks because some of the CBD compounds interact with the tremor-causing receptors where they inhibit the causes of the tremors whereby the army guy will seize from having them. It does not matter in which state you come from, but with the slightest mention that you are military personnel, it will be very difficult to get a medical marijuana card.
Before you get the medical marijuana card, ensure you have been examined by a qualified and reliable practitioner. With the increased legalization of marijuana, you may bump into a quack practitioner. It will be best if you do your thorough research because in as much as medical marijuana can have very many health benefits, it needs to be taken with regulation and some specified amount. Also, understand if it can negatively react to your body system, which may end up causing you more harm than good. When lucky enough to get a medical marijuana card, ensure you utilize it to the best of your ability and renew it when right.
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