Patients in Washington diagnosed with one of the following severe, debilitating, or life-threatening medical conditions, are afforded legal protection under Washington’s medical marijuana law:
Please note, as per Washington’s Department of health, Mental Health Conditions do not qualify since the State of Washington has determined there is not enough scientific evidence to support Medical Marijuana Treatment for Mental Health Conditions.
To become a medical marijuana patient, schedule an appointment with your health care practitioner to see if your condition qualifies. If it’s determined your condition would benefit from the medical use of marijuana, your health care practitioner will provide you with a completed medical marijuana authorization form.
November 03, 1998, Ballot Initiative I-692 was approved, removing all state-level criminal penalties on the use, possession and cultivation of marijuana by patients who possess “valid documentation” from their physician affirming that he or she suffers from a debilitating condition and that the “potential benefits of the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the health risks.”
November 02, 2008, the Final Rule was amended to include Crohn’s disease and Hepatitis C, with debilitating nausea, vomiting, wasting, appetite loss, cramping, seizures, muscle spasms, or spasticity, when those conditions are unrelieved by standard treatments or medications, to list of qualifying medical conditions.
August 31, 2010, chronic renal failure was added to the complete list of qualifying medical conditions, for the state’s medical marijuana program.
July 01, 2016, the Cannabis Protection Act, goes into full effect, implementing the Medical Marijuana Authorization Database — while the database is NOT mandatory, registered patients and designated providers who do choose to voluntarily register, will receive a recognition card, also known as a medical marijuana card/cannabis I.D. card, that will ensure the individual legal protection from state-level criminal penalties for the use, possession or cultivation, of cannabis; and receive a tax break on the medication (medical marijuana is sale tax free).
Some medical marijuana patients will claim they have a doctor’s prescription for medical marijuana, but marijuana prescriptions are in fact illegal. The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule I drug. Therefore doctors are unable to prescribe marijuana to their patients, and medical marijuana patients cannot go to a pharmacy to fill a prescription for medical marijuana. Instead, medical marijuana physicians will supply patients with a medical marijuana recommendation in compliance with state law.
Washington medical marijuana law currently allows qualified and registered patients or appointed designated caregivers, to cultivate and possess no more than twenty-four (24) ounces of usable cannabis, and fifteen (15) mature marijuana plants. However on July 01, 2016, as per the Cannabis Patient Protection Act, the possession amounts will change, dependent on whether or not, a patient or designated caregiver/provider, has been entered in the state’s marijuana database. Patients and cannabis providers, who voluntarily register with the state’s database, may legally possess up to eight(8) ounces of usable marijuana and may cultivate up to six (6) cannabis plants.
* Please note: Healthcare practitioners may authorize patients to cultivate up to fifteen (15) plants, and possess up to sixteen (16) ounces.
Finally, a helpful & informative website! MarijuanaDoctors.com answered all of my medical marijuana questions and helped me schedule an appointment with an accredited doctor in my area.~Susan - Denver, CO