How to Apply for a Medical Marijuana Card in Ohio

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How to Apply for a Medical Marijuana Card in Ohio – A Step-By-Step Guide

• Check your eligibility
• If you are a minor, appoint a caregiver aged at least 21 years old
• Schedule an appointment with a registered physician
• Attend your appointment and be certified as a qualifying patient by the registered physician
• Be approved by the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy
• Receive your Ohio MMJ card in the mail

Ohio Medical Marijuana Card Qualifying Conditions

To be eligible for an Ohio MMJ card, you must have been diagnosed by a doctor with one or more of the following qualifying medical conditions:

Patient Qualifying Conditions

• HIV
• AIDS
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Cancer
• Hepatitis C
• Crohn’s disease
• Glaucoma
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Fibromyalgia
• Sickle cell anemia
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Epilepsy
• Seizures
• Traumatic brain injury
• Spinal cord disease or injury
• Tourette’s syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Cachexia
• Huntington’s disease
• Spasticity
• Chronic, severe, or intractable pain, such as arthritis, chronic migraine, and complex regional pain syndrome
• Multiple sclerosis
• Terminal illness

General Guidelines

In the next sections, we will outline how to renew your Ohio medical marijuana card and provide you with important information regarding caregiver rules.

Medical Marijuana Card Renewal in Ohio

In Ohio, MMJ cards are only valid for one year. The Ohio MMJ registration date, however, is always the last day of the month. Before renewing, you can buy four 90-day supplies (or eight 45-day supplies).

If you want to continue using medical marijuana, you must renew your card before its expiration date. To renew your Ohio MMJ card, go to the Ohio Patient & Caregiver Registry and log in with the login details you created when you first applied for your Ohio MMJ card.

You can access the Registry up to 90 days before your card expires, but it is best to start the renewal process as soon as possible. Before renewing, you must see a doctor for a new MMJ certification. When you receive your new recommendation, go to the Registry, click “Renew Card,” and pay the renewal fee.

Following payment, you will be directed to your Registry profile page, where you can access your MMJ card with its updated expiration date. Remember that if a patient registration is not renewed, it will be automatically suspended. Then you’ll have to go through the whole application process again.

Caregiver Rules

Minors must designate caregivers who are at least 21 years old under Ohio medical marijuana laws. In Ohio, a medical marijuana caregiver is someone who purchases, transports, and possesses medical marijuana on a registered patient’s behalf and administers it in accordance with the state’s medical marijuana control program. A caregiver can be a parent or legal guardian, a nurse, a spouse, or anyone else who can legally care for a medical marijuana patient.

A person may not act as a medical marijuana caregiver for more than two patients, and a patient may not designate more than two medical marijuana caregivers without the approval of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy. At its discretion and upon written request from a patient, the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy may allow an individual to be a caregiver for more than two registered patients and a patient to appoint more than two medical marijuana caregivers for the following reasons:

• To avoid undue hardship for the patients
• Where patients’ care is provided through a hospice program
• When a medical marijuana caregiver is caring for multiple patients who live in the same household at the same time.

To be eligible for medical marijuana caregiver status in Ohio, an individual must meet the following requirements:

• Be at least 21 years old unless the individual is the legal parent of a minor patient.
• Be an Ohio resident at the time of application and continue to be so throughout the individual’s participation in the OMMCP.
• Accept being designated as the registered patient’s caregiver.
• Must not be the patient’s recommending physician
• Register with the State Board of Pharmacy

The appointed caregiver must NOT be included in the:

• S. General Services Administration System for Award Management (SAM) List of excluded entities and individuals maintained by the U.S. DOH and Human Services Inspector General Online Abuser Registry maintained by the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities
• Database of sex offenders and child victims on the internet
• The National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW)
• On the Ohio Nurse Aide Registry – where there is a report detailing findings that the individual abused or neglected a long-term care establishment or residential care facility resident or misappropriated the resident’s property.

History of Cannabis in Ohio

Ohio decriminalized marijuana possession (up to 100g) in 1975. However, the Buckeye state did not legalize medical marijuana for another 41 years.

A ballot measure to legalize marijuana failed at the polls in 2015. In June 2016, however, Governor Kasich signed House Bill 523, legalizing the use of medical marijuana in Ohio.

Marijuana supporters attempted to get a new recreational legalization bill on the ballot in 2022. However, this proposal will not be implemented until at least 2023.

Ohio Medical Marijuana Laws and Rules

While Ohio’s MMJ program is new, the Buckeye state decriminalized possession of up to 100 grams of cannabis in 1975. If found with a small amount of marijuana, you face a fine of $150 but, thankfully, no jail time. The offense, however, is classified as a minor misdemeanor and can result in a six-month to five-year license suspension.

Possession of 100 to 200 grams of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a 30-day prison sentence. Possession of 200 grams or more is a felony punishable by a year in prison.

Selling cannabis in any amount is a felony, and giving marijuana away for free is also illegal. Giving away under 20 grams is a minor misdemeanor, but a second offense is punishable by imprisonment (up to 60 days).

Finally, the penalties for growing marijuana in Ohio are the same as the penalties for possessing an equivalent amount. As a result, obtaining an MMJ card is the best way to remain legally protected when using cannabis in Ohio.

What Types of Cannabis Can I Purchase in Ohio?

The use of tinctures, oils, edibles, creams, plant material, patches, and lotions is permitted under Ohio’s MMJ program. Patients are not allowed to smoke marijuana, but they may vaporize it. MMJ products that are “attractive to children,” such as THC gummies, are also prohibited.

How Much Cannabis can I Buy and Possess?

Initially, the law required a patient (or their caregiver) to purchase at least one “whole day unit” of marijuana per transaction. A whole-day unit is defined as follows:

• Plant material weighing one-tenth of an ounce (2.83 grams).
• THC content of 295 mg in a patch, lotion, cream, or ointment
• THC content of 110 mg in oil, tincture, capsule, or edible for oral administration
• THC content of 590 mg in vaporization oil

(Please note that the Ohio Board has made some changes, and you can find up-to-date information in relation to this on medicalmarijuana.ohio.gov.)

A qualified patient or caregiver may have up to a 90-day supply of cannabis in their possession. This results in a maximum of:

• 8 ounces of Tier I marijuana, i.e., contains a maximum of 23% THC
• 3 ounces of Tier II* marijuana, i.e., contains more than 23% THC
• THC content of 26.55 grams in lotions, patches, creams, and other topicals
• THC in capsules, oils, tinctures, and other edible forms for oral administration 9.9 grams
• THC content of 53.1 grams in medical marijuana oil for vaporization

The Board of Pharmacy established a new 45-day fill period for MMJ patients on April 17, 2020. Your 90-day recommendation is split into two new periods. You can buy a full 45-day supply at any time during the 45-day period. For example, if you haven’t bought marijuana during a fill period yet, you can do so on day 42. Then, four days later, you could buy another 45-day supply. There is, however, no rollover from one period to the next.

Where can I Legally Purchase MMJ in OH?

Initially, the MMJ program allowed for up to 60 dispensaries. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy approved plans to increase the number of dispensaries in the state in April 2021.

Businesses can apply for 73 new dispensary licenses, so Ohio could eventually have up to 130 dispensaries. Given the state’s rapid increase in MMJ patients, this is necessary.

Can I Take my MMJ to a Different State?

No. Marijuana remains federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act. It is thus unlawful to travel across state lines with marijuana in your possession.