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Medical marijuana in Florida: How to get a prescription, where to find dispensaries

Katie Kustura
The Daytona Beach News-Journal

Medical marijuana patients in Florida must undergo an in-person exam every 30 weeks to recertify their medical card.

Two Republican legislators — Rep. Spencer Roach (Fort Myers) and Sen. Jason Brodeur (Sanford) — recently filed bills proposing patients be allowed to get recertified through a telehealth appointment.

As of Jan. 27, more than 788,000 residents were actively qualified to use medical marijuana.

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How to get a medical marijuana card

Persons looking to get a medical marijuana card must visit a doctor certified to recommend medical marijuana treatment. Visit knowthefactsmmj.com/physicians/list to find a qualified physician.

There are more than 2,600 physicians actively qualified to recommend medical marijuana treatment in Florida.

If the doctor determines a person is qualified, they will enter the patient's name into the state's Medical Marijuana Registry. The patient is assigned an ID number which is then used in applying for a registry ID card online.

A fully-grown flower of a marijuana plant at Surterra's facility near Tallahassee.

Qualifying conditions include:

  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Cancer
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Epilepsy
  • Glaucoma
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Other medical conditions considered to be in the same class or comparable to those listed above
  • Chronic, nonmalignant pain caused by or originating from a qualified condition
  • Terminal condition diagnosed by a physician

The $75 application is available at mmuregistry.flhealth.gov.

The card is good for one year.

Where to buy medical marijuana

Trulieve CEO Kim Rivers goes through the company's new line of edible medical marijuana products which includes gels, chocolate, cookies and brownies, after the first sale of edibles in Florida was made at the Trulieve dispensary on SE Capital Circle in Tallahassee Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020.

Medical marijuana isn't obtained directly from a qualified doctor but from an authorized dispensary.

There are multiple dispensaries throughout Florida and more on the way.

Coming soon:Las Vegas-based cannabis dispensary Planet 13 announces new Port Orange location

Dispensaries currently open in the state:

During a visit to a dispensary, a staffer will check the patient in and then another staffer will accompany the patient to where the product is kept.

Many dispensaries offer online shopping with pick-up or delivery services.

How to use medical marijuana

Medical marijuana can be used through inhalation, consumption or a topical agent.

The industry generally recognizes two kinds of cannabis: Indica, which is often thought to be more calming, and Sativa, which is thought to be more uplifting. Most cannabis is a hybrid of the two, according to OncoLink.

Dispensaries offer a variety of products that use the whole plant or its compounds:

  • Concentrates
  • Flower
  • Edibles
  • Inhalers
  • Oral products
  • Topicals/transdermals