The joke goes:Patient — “Doctor, I’m depressed. I think I may need medical marijuana.”
Doctor — “Why are you depressed?”
Patient — “Because I don’t have any weed.”
Actually, depression in itself as a medical problem is not among the conditions that would qualify someone to obtain a prescription for medical marijuana.
Here are the 17 medical conditions that qualify for prescription medical marijuana:
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
- Autism
- Cancer
- Crohn’s Disease
- Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Huntington’s Disease
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Intractable Seizures
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Neuropathies
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
- Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain in which conventional therapeutic intervention and opiate therapy is contraindicated or ineffective
- Sickle Cell Anemia
(Source: Pennsylvania Department of Health)
Medical marijuana was legalized in Pennsylvania in April 2016. Implementation of the program is to begin in the spring of 2018.
So far, more than 10,135 Pennsylvanians have registered with the state as patients in the medical marijuana program. Of that number, fewer than 12 percent have been certified by a physician to participate in the program.
Patients who want to participate in the medical marijuana program must follow these steps:
- Visit the Patients and Caregivers Registry and create a patient profile in the Department of Health’s patient and caregiver registry.
- Obtain a physician’s certification that you suffer from one of the 17 serious medical conditions.
- Return to the Patient and Caregivers Registry and pay for a medical marijuana ID card.
- Obtain medical marijuana from an approved dispensary in Pennsylvania.
Doctors who are certified to prescribe medical marijuana cannot advertise that they are authorized to do so.
credit:ydr.com