Medical marijuana card guides, state by state

MMJ-Docs certifies patients by telehealth in 13 states: Arizona, Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. You must be a resident of the state where you certify and hold a valid ID issued by that state.

Substantially. Each state writes its own statute, so the qualifying condition list, the state registration fee, how long a card stays valid, possession limits and whether telehealth certification is allowed all change at the state line. Nothing about one state's program safely predicts another's.

Generally no. Almost every medical program requires proof of residency in the form of a state-issued ID or, in some states, a lease or utility bill. Certify in the state you actually live in, then check that state's reciprocity rules before travelling.

Sometimes. A number of states offer reciprocity and let visiting cardholders purchase or possess cannabis, but many do not, and the policy changes often. Reciprocity is never guaranteed, so confirm the current rules of the state you are visiting before you travel with a card.

All 13 states MMJ-Docs serves permit certification through a telehealth visit with a physician licensed in that state. Telehealth rules elsewhere vary: some programs require at least one in-person examination, and a few require an existing physician-patient relationship first.

The MMJ-Docs physician fee is the same everywhere: $75 for a new certification and $50 for a renewal. What changes by state is the separate registration fee paid to the state agency. Some states charge one and others do not, so check the individual state guide for the total.

It depends on the state program. Among the states we serve, Minnesota certifications can run up to three years, while Delaware, Kentucky, Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia are generally annual. Several states set the period case by case rather than fixing it in statute.

Most do, and the lists differ sharply — chronic pain and PTSD appear almost everywhere, while anxiety qualifies in some states and not others. Oklahoma is the notable exception among the states we serve: it has no fixed statutory list and leaves the decision to the certifying physician.

MMJ-Docs cannot certify you in a state where it does not operate. We keep educational guides for several of those states so you can understand how their program works, but you will need a physician licensed in that state to certify you.