While legalization is gaining momentum all across the states — and beyond America — exact policies for cannabis use in specific states still remain unclear for many people.
Only 11 states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana. 35 states have implemented medical marijuana programs for patients, and the remaining states fully adhering to the federal law, under which marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 drug.
With so much confusion between state and federal marijuana laws, people literally cannot keep up which states have legalized marijuana — and for what purposes.
Did you know that one of the top questions asked on Google last month was “What states have medical marijuana?”, with approximately 10,000 searches for the phrase “medical marijuana states.”
In this article, we list all legal medical marijuana states along with their qualifying conditions.
| State | Status | State Laws |
|---|
Alabama
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
You can only buy CBD oil, which was decriminalized in 2016. Any other marijuana products with THC are entirely banned in the state. CBD oil in Alabama may contain up to 3% THC. (Read more on the current CBD legal status in all 50 states.)
Lab Testing
The state doesn’t currently require lab testing for CBD oil products.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Patients who want to buy CBD oil must be first qualified for the state’s medical marijuana program. Only a person with a debilitating disease or a medical condition, including one that produces seizures, can apply for a doctor’s recommendation.
Alaska
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults 21 and older are able to buy and consume cannabis from state-licensed dispensaries and establishments with a legitimate onsite consumption policy. Consumers are able to purchase up to 1 ounce of marijuana, or 7 grams of cannabis concentrate, or total cannabis less than 5.6 grams, or 0.2 ounces, of THC.
Adults who want to consume cannabis onsite are only allowed to buy 1 gram, or 0.035 ounces or less per transaction. The state law has banned public cannabis consumption. Legal consumption may only occur on private property or in a place with a valid onsite consumption regulations. Onsite consumers can buy up to 1 gram of marijuana products with a limit of 10 mg of THC to be used onsite.
Available forms of marijuana include flower, edibles, concentrates, oils, tinctures, drinks, salves, patches, and topical cannabis products.
Lab Testing
Cannabinoid makeup (THC, THCA, CBD, CBDA, CBN), bacterial screening, mold screening, poisons, toxins, chemicals, residual solvents, pesticides
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Chronic or severe pain
- Epilepsy/seizures
- Persistent muscle spasms (relating to MS)
- Severe nausea
Arizona
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Only medical marijuana patients and caregivers in the ADHS registry with valid ID cards can buy medical marijuana from nonprofit state-licensed dispensaries. Marijuana consumption must take place on private premises.
Lab Testing
The state of Arizona currently requires no lab testing for marijuana products.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Crohn’s Disease
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Seizures/epilepsy
- Severe and chronic pain
- Severe nausea
- Severe or persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis)
Arkansas
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults can acquire medical marijuana products from medical marijuana dispensaries registered with the state. Patients must show their medical marijuana card to purchase their medicine. Caregivers are allowed to buy medical marijuana on behalf of their designated patient, provided that they can show a valid caregiver registry card.
Marijuana consumption is allowed only at home. Public consumption remains banned.
Lab Testing
The Arkansas Department of Health requires cannabis in the state to be tested by third-party laboratories for the following: CBD and THC potency, heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, moisture content, solvents, and water content.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- ALS
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Crohn’s Disease
- Epilepsy/seizures
- Hepatitis C
- Fibromyalgia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Intractable pain (pain that hasn’t responded to ordinary treatment, medications or surgical measures for a longer period of time than 6 months)
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis)
- PTSD
- Severe arthritis
- Severe nausea
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Ulcerative colitis
California
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults 21 and older may buy marijuana from any state-licensed recreational cannabis as long as they can provide valid proof of identification.
You can legally buy one ounce of dried flowers and up to 8 grams of concentrated cannabis. Moreover, marijuana delivery is legal across the state. However, some counties have banned deliveries within their jurisdictions. Patients who are unable to make a transaction themselves can ask their caregiver to do so.
If you want to buy weed from a medical cannabis dispensary, you don’t need a medical card. In fact, all you need is a state-issued identification card proving you live in California and are above the age of 21. All purchases are charged with a 15% cannabis excise tax, a 10% city tax, and a 7.25%–11% use tax, depending on the area.
However, Proposition 64 states that medical marijuana patients with a valid medical identification ID don’t have to pay the sales and use tax when making local purchases for their medicine.
Consumption of recreational cannabis must take place in a private space. The California Department of Public Health has a list of counties that are members of the California Medical Marijuana Identification Card Program. Onsite consumption is allowed only inside businesses or spaces that have been granted a commercial cannabis consumption license.
In San Francisco, it’s legal to consume marijuana at events with designated lounges and restaurants.
Smoking or vaping marijuana in a designated non-smoking area is subject to a $100 fee. You also can’t smoke within 1,000 feet of a school, youth center, or day-care center while children are present. Consumption in vehicles is forbidden whether you’re driving or just riding as a passenger. In addition, you cannot have an open container of cannabis while driving or riding as a passenger in a vehicle.
Lab Testing
The Bureau of Cannabis Control (BCC) requires that all marijuana harvested for commercial, medical, and recreational sales as well as all cannabis products, must be tested in certified laboratories to meet safety and quality requirements.
Laboratories in California test marijuana for the following: cannabinoids, foreign material, heavy metals, microbial impurities, moisture content, mycotoxins, residual pesticides, processing chemicals and solvents, and terpenoids.Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Anorexia
- Arthritis
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Chronic migraine
- Chronic pain
- Epilepsy and other seizure conditions
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Persistent muscle spasms
- Severe nausea
Colorado
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults 21 and over and medical marijuana patients may purchase legal marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries. If patients are unable to buy their medicine themselves, they may ask a caregiver to purchase and deliver cannabis on their behalf. Patients may also get medical marijuana from medical-only dispensaries.
The state sales tax for cannabis in Colorado is 2.9% — applying to medical marijuana and medical marijuana products. Recreational sales are subject to a 15% retail marijuana tax, which the vendor adds to the final retail purchase price.
While currently only available in dispensaries, the Colorado General Assembly allowed online deliveries for medical marijuana and for all adult-use marijuana starting Jan 2, 2021.
Travelers aren’t allowed to bring marijuana to Denver International Airport or any other airport.
In 2019, the state introduced HB 1230, which created new business licenses for marijuana lounges, tasting rooms, and other cannabis-friendly facilities where public consumption is allowed.
However, it’s illegal to use or consume cannabis in a motor vehicle — including both the driver and passenger.
Lab Testing
The Colorado Department Of Revenue (CDOR) calls for all cannabis harvested for adult use to meet certain quality and safety standards. Manufacturers must send samples of plant material to an independent lab for an internal self-audit and to check if there are no compliance issues. Then, the facility must send the Request for Inspection form signed and dated by the director of the laboratory.
The laboratory may only run tests in the categories for which they have received certification. In total, there are six types of lab certification that a company may obtain in the course of the laboratory inspection: potency, microbial content, residual solvents, metals, pesticides, and mycotoxins.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Persistent muscle spasms
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Severe nausea
- Severe pain
Connecticut
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Only registered patients and primary caregivers may buy medical marijuana from licensed pharmacists employed by state-licensed medical dispensaries. Individuals are allowed to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana flower per month, which is also the limit for possession.
Patients need to choose their designated dispensary as they apply for the medical marijuana program. There are a few dispensaries operating throughout Connecticut. Registered patients can buy flower, edibles, concentrates, tinctures, and topicals, as well as consumption accessories from their dispensaries. Patients are also responsible for state and local sales taxes during purchase.
At this time, there are no marijuana delivery services in the state.
Lab Testing
Connecticut manufacturers are required to screen for heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, and microbiological contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- ALS
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Cerebral palsy
- Complex regional pain syndrome
- Crohn’s disease
- Cystic fibrosis
- Epilepsy/uncontrollable seizures
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Hydrocephalus with intractable headache
- Intractable headache syndromes
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Neuropathic facial pain
- Osteogenesis imperfecta
- Post laminectomy syndrome without chronic radiculopathy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Postherpetic neuralgia
- Parkinson’s disease
- Severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
- Severe rheumatoid arthritis
- Sickle cell disease
- Spasticity of neuropathic pain associated with fibromyalgia
- Spinal cord damage/intractable spasticity
- Terminal illness requiring end-of-life care
- Ulcerative colitis
Delaware
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients and caregivers are allowed to purchase medical cannabis from compassion centers registered with the Office of Medical Marijuana (OMM). There are currently no designated medical marijuana dispensaries and consumption must take place in a private space.
Lab Testing
All medical marijuana and medical marijuana products must undergo laboratory screening for potency and contamination.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
- Autism (without self-injurious or aggressive behavior)
- Cancer
- Chronic debilitating migraines
- Decompensated cirrhosis
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Intractable epilepsy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Terminal illness
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Intractable nausea
- Severe or debilitating pain (pain that has not responded to any previously implemented medical treatment, prescribed medication or surgical measures for more than 3 months. You can also treat this pain if other methods of treatment result in serious side effects)
- Seizures
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including (but not limited) to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
District of Columbia
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Initiative 59 allows patients or their caregivers to purchase and consume medical marijuana from the registered dispensary designated by the patient during the application process. Consumption of medical marijuana is limited to private properties and the use of cannabis in public remains a criminal offense.
Lab Testing
The District of Columbia currently doesn’t require growers to test their crops in laboratories.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Under the Medical Marijuana Expansion Emergency Amendment Act of 2014, a qualifying medical condition includes “any condition for which treatment with medical marijuana would be beneficial, as determined by the patient’s physician.”
Florida
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients in Florida can obtain medical marijuana thanks to Medical Marijuana Use Registry Identification cards. These cards must be shown for verification when buying your medicine at one of the approved medical dispensaries. The cards are also used by the authorities to see if individuals seeking treatment with marijuana are legal patients according to a statewide database. Law enforcement officers may ask a patient to show their cards at any time.
As mentioned, patients can buy their products from one of the state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries. These facilities cannot dispense more than a 70-day supply of medical marijuana in any format at a time or more than a 35-day supply of smokable flower.
Edibles are available for sale, but must be commercially made by medical dispensaries and only infused with cannabis oil. Each dispensary must also carry at least one low-THC product for patients who are sensitive to the psychoactive effects of cannabis.
Medical marijuana — including sales, use, transactions, and delivery devices — are exempt from state sales tax.
Marijuana cannot be consumed in any public place, on a school campus, in the workplace, or within a motor vehicle. Individuals can only consume their medicine in private spaces. Driving under the influence of cannabis is considered a criminal offense.
All cannabis products must be sealed in tamper-proof containers. Patients under 18 may not consume medical cannabis via smoking unless diagnosed with a terminal condition.
Lab Testing
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) are currently working on regulations for laboratories and testing when it comes to medical marijuana and medical marijuana products.
The Florida State Public Health Statutes now require medical marijuana dispensaries to pay for state-certified labs to run testing and audits. Lab screenings are now in effect, and all dispensaries must submit marijuana samples to a licensed lab testing facility.
Samples are tested for accurate cannabinoid profiles and contaminants. The FDACS hasn’t yet determined which contaminants must be tested for or what the maximum contaminant levels for human consumption and safety should be.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A terminal condition diagnosed by a qualified physician
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Chronic nonmalignant pain caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualifying medical condition and persists beyond the usual course of that qualifying medical condition
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those listed above
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Georgia
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Georgia medical marijuana laws are much more restrictive than other states, and recreational marijuana use remains completely illegal. Possession of more than one ounce of marijuana is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
In order to apply to a medical program in the state of Georgia, patients must have their doctor fill out an application form and sign a waiver. The physician then signs a certificate form and submits all information to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Once the application is reviewed, the Georgia DOH may decide to issue a low-THC oil registry card for the applicant. This card will allow users to purchase up to 20 fluid ounces of low-THC oil.
Legal guardians of a minor or adult who has one or more of the qualifying conditions listed below can also apply for the card.
Lab Testing
All marijuana products sold in Georgia must have testing done to confirm exact THC concentrations in the final product.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- End-stage cancer
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Seizure disorders related to the diagnosis of epilepsy or trauma related head injuries
- Multiple sclerosis
- Crohn’s disease
- Mitochondrial disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Sickle cell anemia
- Tourette’s syndrome
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Epidermolysis bullosa
- Alzheimer’s disease
- AIDS
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Patients in a hospice program
- Intractable pain
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Guam
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Medical marijuana patients in Guam can purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana flower, but patients aren’t allowed to grow their own plants at home. Despite an active medical marijuana program, there are no operational dispensaries as of yet.
Lab Testing
In order to be granted permission for buying medical marijuana, a person needs to be admitted to hospice care or suffer from one of the following conditions: Or any other condition “for which the qualified patient’s practitioner has determined that the use of medical cannabis may provide relief.”
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
In order to be granted permission for buying medical marijuana, a person needs to be admitted to hospice care or suffer from one of the following conditions:
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Multiple sclerosis
- PTSD
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Spinal cord injury or related conditions that cause intractable spasticity
Hawaii
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
At the beginning of 2016, the Hawaiian government allowed patients to purchase medical marijuana from state-licensed dispensaries. As of 2018, medical marijuana patients living in neighboring states can also apply for the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Program lasting a period of 60 days per year.
Cannabis is only legal for medical use, and in a form that “doesn’t endanger the health or well-being of another individual.” This is a part of the states “smoke-free” laws — where smoking of any kind is to take place only in designated areas.
Lab Testing
All medical marijuana products must be tested for the following: cannabinoid profile, heavy metals, total viable aerobic bacteria, total yeast and mold, pathogens, total coliforms, all E. coli strains, salmonella species, moisture content, pesticides, solvents, and microbial contamination.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
In order to join the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Program, a person must suffer from one of the “debilitating conditions” listed below:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- PTSD
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristics of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease)
- Severe nausea
- Severe pain
Idaho
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
No, all forms of cannabis is considered illegal in Idaho. Possession of marijuana for any reason will result in serious fines and potentially even jail time.
There’s a ballot up for election on November 3, 2020, seeking to establish a medical marijuana program for the state.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
N/A
Illinois
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Illinois has recently legalized the recreational use of cannabis, making it to the annals as the 11th state with legal weed.
This state also has a well developed medical marijuana program. Patients can buy their medicine in a dispensary storefront, but public consumption is still illegal. The legal limit for purchases is 2.5 ounces of cannabis every two weeks.
Lab Testing
Illinois growers and manufactuers must test for cannabinoid content as well as the presence of pesticides, residual solvents, microbiological contaminants, and mycotoxins.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Arnold-Chiari malformation
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Causalgia
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- Crohn’s disease
- CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome Type II)
- Dystonia
- Fibrous dysplasia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Hydrocephalus
- Hydromyelia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Myasthenia gravis
- Myoclonus
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Neurofibromatosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-concussion syndrome
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Residual limb pain
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Seizures (including those characteristics of epilepsy)
- Severe fibromyalgia
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Spinal cord disease (including but not limited to arachnoiditis)
- Spinal cord injury i.e. damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Spinocerebellar ataxia
- Syringomyelia
- Tarlov cysts
- Tourette syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury
Indiana
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
The government of Indiana currently allows CBD oil as the only legal form of marijuana. On Wednesday, Mar. 21, 2018, Governor Eric Holcomb signed Act 52 into law. This act enables anyone to buy, sell, and possess CBD oil provided the product remains under the federal limit of 0.3% THC and is derived from hemp rather than marijuana plants.
Lab Testing
Manufacturers in Indiana must test their products for THC levels to prove it remains under the legal limit of 0.3%.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Indiana lacks an official medical marijuana program.
Iowa
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
In March 2018, the Iowa Department of Public Health announced that it would allow medical marijuana sales in five Iowa regions: Council Bluffs, Davenport, Windsor Heights, Waterloo, and Sioux City.
The only licensed manufacturer in the state is MedPharm Iowa, which was granted licenses for Sioux City and Windsor Heights. In Council Bluffs and Davenport, medical marijuana is sold by Have a Heart Compassion Care.
The medical program in Iowa only allows the sale of CBD products — any products that contain more than 3% THC don’t qualify for the medical program.
Marijuana still remains illegal within state lines.
Lab Testing
State laws require laboratories to establish and implement screening techniques and corresponding standard operating procedures for the analyses of cannabinoid makeup, processing chemicals, pesticides, microbiological impurities, heavy metals, and residual solvents.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cancer (with chronic or severe pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia)
- Multiple sclerosis with severe and persistent muscle spasms
- HIV/AIDS
- Epilepsy
- Crohn’s Disease
- ALS
- Parkinson’s disease
- Untreatable pain
Kansas
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Kansas cannabis laws currently allow for purchasing CBD products either in stores or from online vendors, provided that they contain ZERO THC. This means that full-spectrum CBD products aren’t available in Kansas and your options are limited to isolates. Individuals may purchase CBD products in the form of oils, pills, powders, or lotions. These products are labeled as health supplements.
Possession of any amount of marijuana is considered a crime and the first violation is a class A misdemeanor, which could land you a fine of up to $2,500 and/or one year in jail. Subsequent offenses for cannabis possessions are felonies punishable up to 2 years in prison with potential fines. Once you’ve been arrested with marijuana for the third time, you can serve up to 52 months in prison and be charged with $2,500 in fines.
Since many cannabis consumption accessories are criminalized as drug paraphernalia, CBD may not be smoked or vaporized in flower form.
Lab Testing
High-quality CBD products must have all contents listed on the container’s label. The manufacturer must also attach a statement of CBD purity along with a health warning that consuming CBD could pose a threat to one’s health. The proposed regulations for the Industrial Hemp Research Program requires license holders to pay $47 per hour for a sample collection and sample testing fee of $250 for each screening. Lab tests in Kansas are designed to determine if the hemp sample contains less than 0.3% THC by weight.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Kansas lacks an official medical program.
Kentucky
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Purchasing, cultivating, consuming, and/or possessing marijuana is illegal in Kentucky. Patients with treatment-resistant forms of epilepsy can use CBD only if approved by their doctor and administered in accordance with Kentucky regulations.
Lab Testing
Hemp farmers must test their plant material to determine the THC content of each final batch. The lab results must confirm that the final product contains less than 0.3% THC content.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Kentucky has no medical marijuana program as of yet, so there are no qualifying conditions that would allow patients to use medical marijuana products.
Louisiana
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Medical marijuana patients in Louisiana can buy their medicine from one of nine state-run pharmacies, which are spread throughout the state and licensed by the Louisiana Pharmacy Board. The Louisiana Medical Marijuana Tracking System records all purchases and recommended doses. When a recommending physician sends an order to the closest pharmacy, it will then turn to inform patients when their medicine is ready for pickup.
Patients are allowed to purchase up to a 30-day supply of cannabis. Their products aren’t covered by insurance and are exempted from Louisiana sales tax. Louisiana pharmacies can sell medical marijuana produced from only one of two licensed growers: Baton Rouge and GB Sciences in partnership with Louisiana State University.
Medical marijuana is available in the form of oils, extracts, tinctures, sprays, pills, capsules, suspension, solutions, gelatin-based gummies, topicals, suppositories, and transdermal patches. Raw cannabis material is illegal for possession and consumption. Patients may only consume their medicine in private.
Lab Testing
Louisiana regulators required the LDAF in SB 271 to draft guidelines for third-party lab testing of medical marijuana products. However, no facilities have passed inspection as of August 2019, therefore LDAF is currently running the tests itself.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Intractable pain
- Muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizure disorders/epilepsy
- Severe muscle spasms
- Spasticity
- Avoidance of others or inability to communicate of such severity that the physical health of the person with autism is jeopardized
- Physically aggressive or destructive behavior
- Repetitive or self-stimulatory behavior of such severity that the physical health of the person with autism is jeopardized
- Self-injuring behavior
Maine
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults 21 years or older can legally possess up to 2.5 ounces (70 grams) of marijuana and three mature marijuana plants. Up immature plants or seedlings are also allowed under state law.
Maine also has a medical program to help patients gain access to high-grade marijuana through a public support program.
Lab Testing
Lab testing is not required from marijuana growers in Maine.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces intractable pain (pain that has not responded to ordinary medical treatment or prescribed medications or surgical measures for more than six months
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Other diseases causing severe and persistent muscle spasms
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Seizures (including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy)
- Severe nausea
Maryland
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients and caregivers can buy medical cannabis from state-approved dispensaries. Cannabis consumption must be held on private property.
Lab Testing
The MMCC requires farmers to contract with at least one independent testing laboratory to ensure that all quality and safety control standards are met. Certified labs must scan the cannabis sample for the following: heavy metals, potency, pesticides, residual matter, and microbiological contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Anorexia
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Chronic pain
- Glaucoma
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizures
- Severe nausea
- Severe or persistent muscle spasms
- Severe pain
Massachusetts
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Residents of Massachusetts can legally purchase cannabis from state-licensed dispensaries. All cannabis products — both medical and recreational — must be consumed on private property. Public marijuana consumption is still illegal — including smoking, vaping, or eating. Furthermore, marijuana can’t be smoked where tobacco smoking is banned.
Lab Testing
The DPH advises all commercial cannabis growers to test their harvested crops as well as all marijuana products for safety, quality, and potency. Certified labs must analyze the following: cannabinoid makeup and potency, fungal mycotoxins, residual solvents, pesticides, plant growth regulators, and microbiological contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Other conditions as approved by a qualifying patient’s physician
- Parkinson’s disease
Michigan
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Under Proposition 1 that was signed into law in November 2018, adults in Michigan can purchase and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis legally in public and grow up to 12 plants at home, out of plain sight. Medical cannabis is available in state-licensed dispensaries.
Lab Testing
Cannabis manufacturers are required by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program (MMMP) to send its products to cannabis testing labs also known as “safety compliance labs.” These laboratories must test for the following: THC and THCA levels, CBD and CBDA levels, terpenes, chemical residue, pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, herbicides, mycotoxin, and water content.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Arthritis
- Autism
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Colitis/ulcerative colitis
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Nail patella,
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Spinal cord injury
- Tourette syndrome
- A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that results in wasting syndrome
- Seizures
- Severe and chronic pain
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms.
- Severe nausea
Minnesota
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients in Minnesota can purchase cannabis in non-smokable forms from one of the in-state medical dispensaries (recreational use is not legal).
Commercial delivery isn’t allowed and must be done through a designated caregiver. People in Minnesota can’t consume their medicine in public. Anybody caught with more than a 30-day supply of cannabis may be charged with a criminal offense.
Approved medical patients only pay $3.50 per gram of cannabis.
Lab Testing
Minnesota requires growers and manufacturers to test for heavy metals, mycotoxins, residual solvents, and pesticides.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Autism
- Cancer (associated with chronic or severe pain, severe vomiting or nausea, or cachexia/severe wasting syndrome)
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Intractable pain
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Seizures/epilepsy
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
- Terminal illness (with a probable life expectancy of less than one year)
- Tourette Syndrome
- Cachexia or severe wasting
- Nausea or severe vomiting
- Severe or chronic pain
Mississippi
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
You can only buy CBD oil in the state of Mississippi. Though the state has a medical program, it’s exceptionally restrictive compared to the rest of the country, only allowing very specific individuals to gain access to low-THC marijuana for their treatment.
Marijuana remains highly illegal within state lines.
Lab Testing
The state only requires testing on it’s medical marijuana, which is done by the National Center for Natural Products Research (University of Mississippi).
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Patients who want to buy CBD oil must be first qualified for the state’s medical marijuana program, which is very limiting and has only issued a small amount of licenses to date. The law is regulated under bill HB1231 in a section named “Harper Grace’s Law”. This allows patients with severe epilepsy to receive high-CBD marijuana through the medical program.
All marijuana must be dispensed by the Department of Pharmacy Services at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
It’s very difficult to get access to medical marijuana in the state of Mississippi.
Missouri
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients in Missouri must apply for a medical license in order to purchase marijuana. The application must be sent to Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) department with a recommendation from a doctor.
Once approved you’re granted up to six marijuana plants and the ability to purchase up to four ounces of marijuana per month from local dispensaries. All sales incur an additional 4% tax which goes towards the support of U.S military veterans.
Lab Testing
Missouri requires growers to test their product for cannabinoid profiles, terpene profiles, heavy metals, and microbial contamination.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A medical condition usually treated with prescription drugs that could lead to psychological or physical dependence
- Any terminal illness
- Cancer
- Chronic pain or persistent muscle spasms (including those associated with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, and Tourette syndrome)
- Debilitating psychiatric disorders (including but not limited to PTSD)
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Intractable migraines
- ALS
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Autism
- Cachexia
- Crohn’s disease
- Hepatitis C
- Huntington’s disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Neuropathy
- Sickle cell anemia
- Wasting syndrome
Montana
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Montana was one of the first states to legalize the use of medical marijuana for patients with debilitating medical conditions. The medical program went into effect with a 2005 ballot initiative.
In 2012, the state senate was able to establish specific conditions on medical marijuana to create the Montana Marijuana Act. Key provisions of the new legislation were challenged in court until August 2016, when the Montana Supreme Court ruled the current marijuana provisions would remain in place.
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in the state of Montana.
Lab Testing
The state recommends three laboratories to test medical marijuana in. The plant material is tested for potency, moisture, contaminants, microbes, heavy metals, residual solvents, mycotoxins, and pesticides.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A central nervous system disorder resulting in chronic, painful spasticity or muscle spasms
- Admittance into hospice care
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy or an intractable seizure disorder
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Intractable nausea or vomiting
- Multiple sclerosis
- Painful peripheral neuropathy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Severe chronic pain
Nebraska
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Nebraska has very harsh laws surrounding cannabis. Both medical and recreational marijuana have been illegal since 1927. Despite a recent positive survey conducted by the Marijuana Policy Project that showed 77% support for the legalization of medical cannabis, lawmakers haven’t yet brought the voters’ will to the legislative ground.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Nebraska currently lacks an official medical marijuana program.
Nevada
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults aged 21 and older, as well as patients and caregivers, can purchase and consume marijuana from licensed retail stores and dispensaries throughout Nevada without the need for a medical license.
You can’t consume cannabis in any public space, save for the designated smoking lounges. Other than these few exceptions, consumption must take place on private property unless stated otherwise by the property owner.
Lab Testing
Third-party laboratories must analyze marijuana products for the following: potency, terpenes, pesticide residue, moisture content, herbicides, bacteria, heavy metals, growth regulators and mycotoxins.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
- Additional conditions as subject to approval by the Nevada DPBH (Division of Public and Behavioral Health)
- Cachexia (general physical wasting and malnutrition from chronic disease)
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- Persistent muscle spasms (including multiple sclerosis)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizures (including epilepsy)
- Severe nausea
- Severe pain
New Hampshire
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Despite being one of the nation’s smallest states, New Hampshire has made some big strides in the legalization of medical marijuana. Recreational use has been decriminalized — resulting in no prison time or criminal record if caught in possession of the herb.
Approved medical patients can purchase marijuana at a dispensary storefront, although they can’t consume the medicine in public. There are no delivery services in the state either.
Lab Testing
Each batch of medical cannabis grown within New Hampshire should be tested for its cannabinoid content (THC, THCV, CBC, CBD, CBN, and CBG). Water and soil tests are required as well.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Cancer
- Chronic pancreatitis
- Crohn’s disease
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Lupus
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Spinal cord injury or disease
- Traumatic brain injury (TMI)
- Ulcerative colitis
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Chemotherapy-induced anorexia
- Constant or severe nausea
- Elevated intraocular pressure (glaucoma)
- Moderate to severe vomiting
- Seizures
- Severe or persistent muscle spasms
- Severe pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures, or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects
New Jersey
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults aged 18 and older can buy medical marijuana from New Jersey’s medical dispensaries as long as they have a recommendation from their doctor. Recreational use remains illegal.
Marijuana consumption in New Jersey must take place only in the privacy of patients’ homes.
Lab Testing
Independent laboratories in New Jersey must analyze soil samples, plant samples, and samples of the product containing cannabis grown or sold by a medical marijuana dispensary. This testing process aims to ensure that all products meet the state’s control and safety standards for medical products.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
- Anxiety
- Any terminal illness with a prognosis of less than 12 months
- Chronic pain of “visceral origin” (including irritable bowel syndrome, bowel dysfunction, and pancreatitis)
- Chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders (including rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, opioid use disorder, and lupus)
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma (if traditional medical treatment has failed)
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity
- Migraines
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizure disorders (including epilepsy)
- Severe nausea or vomiting
- Severe or chronic pain
- Terminal cancer
- Tourette syndrome
- Wasting syndrome caused by HIV/AIDS and cancer
New Mexico
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Medical marijuana is available in New Mexico for patients and caregivers in state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries. If patients cannot order their medicine themselves, they can designate a caregiver to pick up the product on their behalf.
Qualified patients may also register for a personal production license to make their own cannabis products. Medical cannabis consumption is limited to private spaces and out of public view. Driving under the influence of marijuana is considered an offense and punishable with civil penalties.
Lab Testing
New Mexico requires state-licensed nonprofit producers to send their products to at least one third-party testing laboratory for content analysis. The laboratory must ensure that the product is tested for the following; cannabinoids, terpenes, fungal mycotoxins, heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, moisture,and residual solvents.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord
- Epilepsy/seizure disorders
- Glaucoma
- HCV infection and receiving antiviral treatment currently
- HIV/AIDS
- Hospice care
- Huntington’s disease
- Inclusion body myositis
- Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis
- Intractable nausea/vomiting
- Multiple sclerosis
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Painful peripheral neuropathy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post‐traumatic stress disorder
- Severe anorexia
- Severe chronic pain
- Spasmodic torticollis (cervical dystonia)
- Ulcerative colitis
New York
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Residents of New York who are certified patients can purchase medical cannabis from registered dispensaries. The New York Department of Health also allows non-smokable forms of medical marijuana, including oils, liquids, capsules, and topicals. Edibles are prohibited under current regulations.
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in the state of New York.
Cannabis consumption is limited to private properties.
Lab Testing
All medical marijuana products must be sent to a DEA-approved laboratory. Products must be analyzed in terms of their cannabinoid profile, as well as the presence of 30 chemical contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Chronic pain
- Epilepsy
- HIV infection or AIDS
- Huntington’s disease
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neuropathy
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Spinal cord injury with spasticity
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- PTSD or opioid use disorder (only if enrolled in a treatment program certified pursuant to Article 32 of the Mental Hygiene Law)
- Seizures
- Severe nausea
- Severe or chronic pain
- Severe or persistent muscle spasms
North Carolina
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
North Carolina only allows caregivers to obtain low-THC hemp extracts on behalf of their patients. The state doesn’t currently run any medical marijuana program or other state-sponsored methods of extracting CBD oil. Caregivers must, therefore, purchase CBD in another state that already has a legal framework for medical marijuana in place.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Only patients with intractable epilepsy are considered eligible for a medical license in North Carolina.
North Dakota
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
North Dakota only allows medical cannabis products that are grown and produced within the state. Adult recreational use is still illegal here.
Only registered medical marijuana patients can buy and possess cannabis. Patients who want to apply for an ID card must obtain a written certificate from a doctor along with a $50 application fee.
North Dakota doesn’t have any additional or specific excise taxes on the cultivation, production, or sale of medical marijuana. If you want to travel across North Dakota with cannabis, make sure it’s transported in a sealed container. State authorities have said that it’s best to keep marijuana products within their original packages along with a legal proof of purchase.
Available forms of medical marijuana include dried leaves and flowers, cannabinoid concentrates, extracts, capsules, solutions, and transdermal patches with a maximum THC content of 50 mg per dose, and topicals carrying up to 6% of THC.
In order to apply for a medical marijuana card, patients need to be at least 19 years of age.
Smoking medical marijuana in public is subject to the same regulations describing tobacco smoking in public.
Lab Testing
All medical marijuana grown and produced in North Dakota must be lab tested for strain, potency, pesticides, and contaminants. The state recently approved its first medical marijuana laboratory for testing cannabis.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Anorexia nervosa
- Anxiety disorder
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Brain injury
- Bulimia nervosa
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Decompensated cirrhosis due to hepatitis C
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Endometriosis
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Interstitial cystitis
- Migraine
- Neuropathy
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Spinal stenosis/chronic back pain (including neuropathy or damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity)
- Terminal illness
- Tourette syndrome
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Intractable nausea
- Seizures
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis
- Severe debilitating pain for which other traditional medical treatment options produced serious side effects or that has not responded to any surgical measures or previously prescribed medication for more than three months
Ohio
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients can purchase medical marijuana in state-licensed dispensaries. Consumption is limited to vaporizers, oils, tinctures, edibles, or patches and must take place on private property.
Recreational marijuana remains illegal in Ohio but a ballot has been initiated to challenge this. If passed, the ballot would allow users to grow up to six plants at home and buy marijuana from a local dispensary.
Lab Testing
Growers and manufacturers in Ohio must test the cannabinoid content, terpenes, and presence of microbiological contaminants in each batch of marijuana.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)/Lou Gehrig’s disease
- Cancer
- Chronic pain or severe/intractable pain
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Sickle cell anemia
- Spinal cord disease or injury
- Tourette Syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury
- Ulcerative colitis
Oklahoma
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Registered patients and their designated caregivers may purchase medical marijuana from state-licensed medical cannabis dispensaries. Recreational marijuana remains illegal in the state of Oklahoma.
Cannabis consumption in public is prohibited — patients must take their medicine only in a private space.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Currently there are no specific qualifying conditions for becoming a medical marijuana patient in Oklahoma. Both application and recommendation must be submitted by a licensed local physician. Recommendations are left up to the discretion of the physician.
Oregon
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adults in Oregon aged 21 and older are allowed to buy 1 ounce of cannabis flower per day, with a 17% excise tax charged on cannabis products, plus up to 3% in local taxes.
Cannabis can be purchased from one of Oregon’s medical or recreational dispensaries. The state doesn’t allow for public consumption of cannabis, including places like restaurants and bars licensed to sell liquor.
Consuming cannabis is also prohibited in a parked car in public view, both as a driver and passenger.
Lab Testing
Medical and recreational marijuana, including weed-infused products, are subjected to laboratory testing to meet quality and safety control standards. Laboratories must test cannabis for cannabinoids, water content, residual solvents, heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A degenerative or pervasive neurological condition
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Cachexia (a weight-loss disease that can be caused by HIV or cancer)
- Persistent muscle spasm, including but not limited to spasms caused by multiple sclerosis
- Seizures, including but not limited to seizures caused by epilepsy
- Severe nausea
- Severe pain
Pennsylvania
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients and caregivers seeking treatment with medical marijuana must be added to the state’s registry and acquire a medical cannabis ID card in order to purchase their medicine from state-licensed dispensaries.
Cannabis is only available in non-smokable forms — so flower or any product designed to be smoked isn’t allowed for sale.
Lab Testing
Harvested marijuana is tested for the following: cannabinoid potency (THC and CBD), moisture content, water content, solvents, pesticides, and microbial contaminants.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Autism
- Cancer, including remission therapy
- Crohn’s disease
- Damage to the nervous tissue of the central nervous system (brain-spinal cord) with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, and other associated neuropathies
- Dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders
- Epilepsy
- Glaucoma
- HIV/AIDS.
- Huntington’s disease
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Intractable seizures
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neurodegenerative diseases
- Neuropathies
- Opioid use disorder for which conventional therapeutic interventions are contraindicated or ineffective, or for which adjunctive therapy is indicated in combination with primary therapeutic interventions
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain
- Sickle cell anemia
- Terminal illness
Puerto Rico
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Recreational marijuana is illegal in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Ricans looking to purchase medical marijuana must first go through a registration process that may take weeks and is subjected to a $100 or $150 fee.
Once approved, the Puerto Rican Department of Health enters a patient into a database and permits them to purchase from the nearest storefront dispensary. Patients are allowed to consume non-smokable forms of cannabis, but only on private properties.
Lab Testing
The local government of Puerto Rico doesn’t require cannabis farmers and manufacturers to test their products in laboratories.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Anorexia
- Anxiety
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy
- Fibromyalgia
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Cachexia
- Migraines
- Multiple sclerosis
- Severe spasms
- Parkinson’s disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Spinal cord injury
Rhode Island
Decriminalized
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
If you want to buy cannabis from one of three state-licensed compassion centers in Rhode Island, you must be a qualified patient or a designated caregiver. No recreational marijuana sales are permitted by the state government.
Cannabis consumption is limited to private property only.
Lab Testing
The Rhode Island Department of Health has advised all medical cannabis cultivators and registered compassion centers to test their products for safety and quality. However, the DOH has yet to come up with any official framework for lab testing, i.e. what a content analysis should cover.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cancer
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- HIV/AIDS
- Agitation related to Alzheimer’s Disease
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease
- Severe nausea
- Severe, debilitating, chronic pain
South Carolina
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
South Carolina currently allows only medical CBD products with a doctor’s recommendation. Available forms of cannabis include extracts with less than 15% CBD and no more than 0.9% THC per dry weight.
Lab Testing
South Carolina currently doesn’t have regulations regarding laboratory testing for cannabis products.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Lennox Gastaut Syndrome
- Dravet Syndrome or any other severe form of epilepsy that is not adequately treated by conventional treatments
- Cachexia
- Severe or chronic pain
- Severe nausea
- Seizures
- Severe and persistent muscle spasms
South Dakota
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Both medical and recreational use of marijuana is illegal in South Dakota, so while seeing Mount Rushmore is a good option to consider, you won’t find any dispensary or compassion center selling cannabis in this state.
Ballots have been put forward to change South Dakota marijuana laws several times — all of which have failed.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
South Dakota lacks any official medical marijuana program.
Tennessee
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Although marijuana is illegal in Tennessee, patients with a doctor’s recommendation can purchase and use CBD-rich extracts. The state requires all CBD products including cannabis oil contain less than 0.9% THC.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Only treatment-resistant seizures are listed as the official qualifying conditions for medical marijuana extracts in Tennessee.
Texas
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Only registered patients in Texas who have been diagnosed with one or more qualifying conditions by a state-licensed physician can purchase cannabis from one of three DPS-run medical dispensaries.
If patients aren’t able to make the purchase themselves they can use delivery services from two of the three dispensaries.
Only approved caregivers are allowed to deliver medical marijuana products to patients.
Lab Testing
Texas currently doesn’t require lab testing from growers, producers, and dispensaries.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Lou Gehrig’s disease
- Autism
- Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
- Incurable neurodegenerative diseases
- Multiple sclerosis
- Spasticity
- Terminal cancer
Utah
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients 18 and older, their parents or legal guardian, as well as designated caregivers may legally purchase medical cannabis in Utah. The problem with current regulations is that there are no medical dispensaries operating within the state.
All cards for patients under 21 must be approved by Utah’s Compassionate Use Board. Utah law also states that patients may only use medical cannabis if they suffer from a qualifying condition and have a recommendation from a physician.
Public consumption of cannabis remains illegal unless it’s a medical emergency. You also can’t use your medicine while driving a vehicle. Moreover, the Utah Medical Cannabis Act specifies that medical cannabis may only be available as capsules, gel-caps, concentrated oils, skin patches, liquid suspensions, or resin administered via a vaporizer.
Lab Testing
The Medical Cannabis Act lists all testing facilities where cultivators and manufacturers can send their cannabis and cannabis goods for content analysis.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- A condition resulting in the individual receiving hospice care
- A rare disease or condition (affecting less than 200,000 individuals in the U.S., as defined by federal law) which is inadequately managed using physical interventions or conventional treatments (other than opioids or opiates)
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Autism
- Cachexia
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
- Epilepsy or debilitating seizures
- HIV/AIDS
- Multiple sclerosis or debilitating muscle spasms
- Pain lasting longer than two weeks that is inadequately managed, in the qualified medical provider’s opinion, despite treatment with conventional medications (other than opioids or opiates) or physical intervention
- Persistent nausea that is not significantly responsive to conventional treatment except for nausea associated with pregnancy, cannabis-induced cyclical vomiting syndrome, or CBD hyperemesis syndrome
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that is being treated and monitored by a mental health therapist and has been properly diagnosed and documented
- Terminal illness when the remaining life expectancy is less than six months
Vermont
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Adult-use and medical use of cannabis are both legal in Vermont. Patients who want to obtain medical-grade cannabis products may only purchase from their designated dispensary, and can point to only one dispensary at a time.
Lab Testing
Vermont currently doesn’t have regulations in place regarding lab testing for cannabis products.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- AIDS
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Glaucoma
- HIV
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Cachexia or wasting syndrome
- Chronic pain
- PTSD (provided the applicant is undergoing psychotherapy or counseling with a licensed mental health care provider)
- Seizures
- Severe nausea
Virginia
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Virginia is one of those states where both medical and recreational use of marijuana is illegal. However, patients can purchase and possess CBD extracts high low in THC provided that they have a medical condition approved by a physician.
Legal CBD extracts should contain at least 15% CBD and no more than 5% THC.
Similarly, Virginia allows THC-A oils as processed cannabis extracts. The potency rules are the same — the extract must contain at least 15% THC-A but no more than 5% THC.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
The only official condition listed as a qualifier for cannabis products in Virginia is intractable epilepsy. A doctor can help you apply for other conditions at their discretion.
Washington
Recreational
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Washington has a very progressive legal framework regarding cannabis and cannabis products. Adults can legally purchase their cannabis from one of the state-licensed medical or recreational retailers.
If you want to buy cannabis from a medical dispensary, you’ll need to apply for a Tribal ID card, and if you can’t purchase marijuana yourself, you can designate a caregiver who will also buy medical cannabis on your behalf.
There’s a Washington state marijuana tax for recreational sales. The state law says that all retail marijuana sales are subject to a whopping 37% excise tax in addition to local sales tax and regular state tax. Medical products are exempt from taxation. Cannabis can be consumed in public, although not in places where tobacco smoking is banned.
Lab Testing
All marijuana and marijuana-infused products made in Washington must be rigorously tested by a third-party laboratory. Certified labs must perform the following tests: potency analysis, terpene profile, residual solvent screening, pesticides, moisture, mycotoxin screening, and microbiological screening.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Epilepsy or other seizure disorders
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
- Intractable pain (limited for the purpose of this chapter to mean pain unrelieved by standard medical treatments and medications)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Spasticity disorders
- Anorexia
- Appetite loss
- Chronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis
- Cramping
- Muscle spasms/spasticity
- Nausea
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Seizures
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Vomiting
- Wasting
West Virginia
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Patients in West Virginia can purchase only from dispensaries approved by the Bureau of Health. Patients and caregivers may buy and possess up to a 30-day supply of cannabis at any given time, per the guidelines set out by a physician’s certification.
Currently, there are no regulations surrounding medical cannabis delivery services. Local governments have the right to ban or limit medical cannabis business activities within their jurisdictions.
Cannabis consumption is illegal in public places, inside a motor vehicle, or on the premises of any rented property that requires a person to stay fully sober.
Patients may consume their medicine as oils, pills, tinctures, creams, gels, ointments, liquid, and non-whole plant forms using a vaporizer. Smoking cannabis flower is illegal in West Virginia, just like the sales of edibles.
However, patients are permitted to make their edible products at home.
Lab Testing
The Bureau of Health has yet to draft regulations to determine testing criteria for cannabis products, as well as labeling requirements and types of certification.
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Epilepsy
- HIV/AIDS
- Huntington’s disease
- Intractable seizures
- Multiple sclerosis
- Neuropathies
- Parkinson’s disease
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain for which conventional treatment and opiate therapy is contraindicated or has proved ineffective
- Sickle cell anemia
- Terminal illness with a life expectancy of approximately one year or less if the illness runs its normal course
Wisconsin
Medical
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Wisconsin still imposes jail time for possession of marijuana and lacks a compassionate medical cannabis law.
Only a very small number of patients are permitted CBD oils in Wisconsin through an official recommendation from a doctor.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Wisconsin lacks any official medical marijuana programs.
Wyoming
Illegal
Can you purchase and consume cannabis?
Under the Wyoming state law, it’s against the law to purchase or possess cannabis. There is currently no medical marijuana program, although hemp-derived CBD products with less than 0.3% are approved by the federal government.
Lab Testing
N/A
Qualifying Conditions & Patient Rights
Wyoming lacks any official medical marijuana programs.