The District of Columbia issues membership cards to qualified patients and associated caregivers participating in the state's medical marijuana program. This card upholds their right to legally possess, purchase, and use marijuana as an alternative means of managing certain disorders. Patients and caregivers cannot buy recommended weed at licensed dispensaries in the District without the cards.
Medical marijuana became legal in the District of Columbia when the Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative Act won at the polls in 1998. Unfortunately, Congress frustrated the immediate take-off of the program by not making funds available. However, Congress overturned its decision in 2009 and then the program launched soon after. Eventually, the first legal purchase of medical cannabis at a licensed dispensary occurred in the District in 2013. Initially, the District's Department of Health (DC Health) supervised the medical marijuana program. However, they transferred that duty to the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).
To qualify for a medical marijuana identification card as a patient in the District of Columbia, an individual must meet these conditions:
The District of Columbia permits minors below the age of 18 to join its medical marijuana program if their parents or legal guardians provide written consents. Parents or legal guardians must serve as the minor patients' primary caregivers.
By law, only applicants certified by evaluating physicians to have one or more of the approved conditions can participate in the District's medical marijuana program as patients. The approved medical disorders include:
In addition, patients undergoing specific medical or dental treatments are liable to receive medical marijuana cards in the District. These treatments include:
District of Columbia residents seeking to submit applications for acceptance into the District's medical marijuana program can apply:
Adult applicants seeking to participate in the District's medical marijuana program as patients are to download the Patient Application from the District's medical marijuana program's website. Similarly, parents and legal guardians of minor applicants are to complete the Minor Application Form. After completing these forms, applicants must attach and submit accompanying photographs, documents, and payments (checks, money orders, or cashier's checks) to:
Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
2000 14th Street Northwest 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20009
Individuals seeking to become caregivers in Washington DC must meet certain conditions. Section 601 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR) enumerated the minimum requirements as follows:
Before prospective caregivers begin to file applications, their respective patients must have successfully applied and be accepted into the District's medical marijuana program. This is because the applicants must submit some of their prospective patients' information while completing the caregivers' application. The application process itself involves submitting the required information on the Caregiver Application Form.
Subsequently, applicants must also affirm that they understand the program's regulations and attest to follow these guidelines. Applicants must certify that:
After the attestation section, applicants must provide their signatures to complete the Caregiver Application Form. Prospective caregivers must then submit their forms, alongside required documents and payment, to:
Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration
2000 14th Street Northwest 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20009
Prospective caregivers must also submit fingerprints and undergo comprehensive criminal background checks conducted by the MPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The fingerprinting process begins when applicants make online payments on a DC Health portal. Subsequently, they receive emails containing their unique codes and links directing them to the Fieldprint Scheduling Website. They must create new accounts, supply the necessary information, and schedule fingerprinting appointments on the website. After providing the required details and submitting, applicants are to print the confirmation page. They will take the printed confirmation page, alongside two forms of identification, to their fingerprinting appointments. Applicants with further inquiries on the fingerprinting and criminal background checks process are to call (877) 614-4364 or contact the Fieldprint customer service center by email.
Typically, successful applicants receive their District of Columbia's medical marijuana registration cards by mail 3- 4 weeks after their application. Applicants with incomplete information receive notifications to provide the missing details, which may prolong the arrival dates of their registration cards.
The first step to obtaining a Washington D.C. medical marijuana registration card as a patient online is to receive a D.C.- licensed physician's recommendation. Applicants must receive these recommendations within 90 days before they complete and submit their applications. In Washington DC, only these set of licensed healthcare practitioners can evaluate prospective patients:
Residents aged 18 or older must complete the Patient Application (Non-resident application) and upload accompanying documents. After paying the registration fee and submitting their applications, applicants receive emails confirming the receipt of their applications.
In Washington DC, intending patients and caregivers must pay $100 to receive their medical marijuana cards. However, the ABRA permits certain categories of people to pay reduced fees of $25. Persons authorized to pay subsidized fees include:
Patients and caregivers must note that where prospective patients qualify for reduced fees, such patients' designated caregivers will also pay the reduced rates. Prospective patients and caregivers also incur extra charges to receive the healthcare practitioner's certification.
Other fees paid by participants in the District's medical marijuana program include fees paid to replace missing or damaged cards. Patients and caregivers must pay $10 to obtain replacement cards after losing their initial issued cards.
For non-DC residents, the fee for a temporary patient registration varies by the length of its validity period. The ABRA offers 3-, 30-, 90-, 180-, and 365-day registrations for $10, $20, $50, $75, and $100 respectively.
The process of renewing medical marijuana cards for patients and caregivers are essentially the same. DC-licensed healthcare practitioners must initially evaluate intending applicants and recommend their participation in the District's medical marijuana program. Subsequently, applicants log on to the ABRA's website and select the category of healthcare practitioner that evaluated them. This selection leads them to the online Patient Application. On the form, renewal applicants are to select Renewal at the Application Type section and fill in other required information.
To complete the application forms required to participate in the District's medical marijuana program, adult applicants must submit these information and documents:
Parents and legal guardians of minors applying to participate in the District's medical marijuana program must submit:
Yes, the records of every applicant that submits applications to participate in the District's medical marijuana program are kept confidential. Section 802.2 of the DCMR states that the District's Department of Health shall keep a strictly confidential record of every recommending physician and their records. These records maintained by the Department of Health are out of the Freedom of Information Act's jurisdiction, and members of the public cannot access them. In addition, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the confidentiality of medical records. HIPAA's privacy rules only permit the disclosure of health information without the subject's permission in extreme circumstances. These permitted instances include situations involving a severe threat to life, when required for essential government functions, and others.
A typical District of Columbia medical marijuana card contains:
It is unlikely for anyone to track down the District of Columbia's medical marijuana program participants through the official records. This is because HIPAA requires such records to be highly confidential, with the public restricted from accessing them. Submitting a Freedom of Information request is also not enough for the registry to open its records to the public. Additionally, HIPAA's privacy rules only permit the disclosure of subjects' records to law enforcement agents in extreme circumstances.