Some of you who are reading this are all too familiar with the frustration of being rejected from getting your medical marijuana card. Especially for some people who are living with a health condition that is constantly controlling and interrupting their life, marijuana can sometimes feel like the only option they have left. Not to mention, the process of applying for a medical marijuana card is a strenuous and tedious one, making the rejection even more frustrating; no one likes to waste their time. That being said, there may be some common themes and reasons among patients who are getting rejected from a medical cannabis program.
While this is frustrating to say, it is true that marijuana is not a medical legal right but simply a privilege. Many patients will lobby for years to get state government officials to pay attention to their medical needs. The truth about the medical marijuana programs in most states is that even if you technically meet the requirements with your current physical or mental conditions, you still may not be accepted into the program based on a variety of other factors.
The application process is intense, and the review process is even more rigid. With marijuana not being legalized federally, states are very picky about who they let into the medical marijuana program. Just because you are able to apply for a medical marijuana card and meet the criteria does not mean that you will be able to get one. This is the sad reality of our country when it comes to the use of cannabis. Looking into the future, we can rest in the fact that marijuana will most likely be legalized on a federal level in the next ten years, and many of these problems will be made better when that happens.
So if you have applied for a medical marijuana card and were denied, it could be because of some of the following reasons that we are going to talk about. The first reason that you may have been declined is that your physician or doctor declines to refer you for the medical marijuana program. One of the many hoops that patients have to jump through to get their medical marijuana card is to schedule a doctor’s appointment and get the recommendation from them after meeting one or more of the qualifying conditions. Unfortunately, not all doctors are going to approve you for your medical marijauana card. If medical professionals do not feel confident that using cannabis will have benefits for you or even be safe for you, they will not approve of you. And I know what you are thinking: fine, I’ll just go see a new doctor over and over again until I get approved. Instead of this, I would consider the advice of the first physician that declined to refer to your application. Cannabis is not necessarily the answer for every patient, no matter how eager you are to get your medical marijuana card.
Another reason that you may have been declined is because you need parental consent. If you are applying for a medical marijuana card and are under the age of 18, you need to have your parents consent in order to be permitted to apply for a medical marijuana card. Your parents have to consent even before you can be referred by the doctor. So if you are planning on going around the wishes of your parents to get your medical cannabis on your own, you are going to be sorely disappointed when you try to fill out the application.
