Benefits of a Florida Medical Marijuana Recommendation
The state of Florida operates a legalized medical marijuana program allowing you to receive a recommendation for the drug and be added to the Compassionate Use Registry. This permits you to buy marijuana for medicinal use under the guidelines of the state of Florida.
Here at DocMJ, we can help you obtain a Florida medical marijuana recommendation in a fast and easy two appointment process approval. Your first appointment will be remotely through video chat. This starts your established care and 90-day waiting period required by the state of Florida to receive your medical cannabis. Your second appointment is face-to-face with your recommending board-certified physician at a location near you.
On November 8th 2016, Florida voters approved Amendment 2. This made Florida the 26th state with a medical marijuana law, according to The Marijuana Policy Project — an agency that places particular focus on helping to make marijuana medically available to those people who are seriously ill and who have approval from their physicians.
The Marijuana Policy Project notes that with the Amendment officially becoming Florida law on January 3, 2017, there has never been a better time to speak to a doctor about a medical marijuana evaluation in Florida.
Medical Marijuana: The Facts
As with any new and controversial subject, there is undoubtedly a great deal of misinformation circulating as to the actual facts about medical marijuana in Florida. According to statistics that WPTV in West Palm Beach reported, this is some of what we currently know about medical marijuana in Florida:
- As of mid-December 2016, there were six companies approved to grow and dispense medical marijuana in the state of Florida.
- 71 percent of Florida voters approved the use of medical marijuana via Amendment 2.
- 1,300 patients in the state qualify to use medical marijuana.
- The office in Florida that’s in charge of all aspects of medical marijuana is located within the state Department of Health and is named the Office of Compassionate Use.
- By the year 2020, medical marijuana is widely expected to be a billion-dollar industry in Florida alone.
Qualifying Medical Conditions
The conditions that qualify you for obtaining a Florida medical marijuana recommendation are as follows:
- Epilepsy
- Cancer
- HIV
- AIDS
- PTSD
- Glaucoma
- Crohn’s Disease
- Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and MS
In addition to the above, Amendment 2 allows doctors to certify you for a medical cannabis recommendation if you suffer from another seriously debilitating condition that your doctor feels marijuana would be helpful in treating. These may include:
- Arthritis
- Anorexia
- Anxiety
- Back pain
- Cyclical vomiting syndrome
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
- Hepatitis C
- Diabetes
- IBS with chronic pain
- Migraine
- Lyme disease
- Muscular dystrophy
- Muscle spasms
- Chronic and severe pain
- Sickle cell anemia
- Severe nausea
- Spasticity
In addition to having one of the ailments that can be treated with cannabis, to qualify for Florida’s medical marijuana state program, you need to be a permanent Florida resident. If you’re under 18, you need the agreement of a second doctor that you need medical marijuana.
You can also be given a medical marijuana recommendation if you have:
- Developed a terminal condition that’s been confirmed via an independent evaluation by a board-certified doctor who specializes in your condition, in addition to being attested to by an initial doctor.
- Considered all the currently approved U.S. FDA treatment options for your terminal condition.
- Provided your informed and written consent for the use of a device, biological product or investigational drug.
- Obtained official documentation from your doctor that proves you meet the requirements above.
Your ordering physician must also register you with the Compassionate Use Registry.
What Is Physician Certification?
When you’re looking for a medical marijuana recommendation, you need to get a physician certification. This means you need a written document that’s signed by a doctor stating that, in their professional opinion, you’re suffering from a condition marijuana can help.
The doctor also needs to state that your medical use of the drug is likely to outweigh any of its potential risks to your health. In addition, they need to state how long they feel you should use medical marijuana.
You can only get a physician certification when you’re been fully examined by the doctor coupled with a full assessment of your medical history. If the certification is to be given to someone under 18, you need to have parental or guardian consent in writing.
Florida requires that you have a patient/physician relationship for at least 90 days before you’re eligible for a medical marijuana recommendation.
Health Benefits of Marijuana
Medical marijuana has many health benefits, as it contains 60 active ingredients (cannabinoids), and your body is known to make its own form of these naturally to modulate pain.
According to Live Science, a study from 2007, published in the journal Neurology, discovered that marijuana can help reduce neuropathic pain for HIV patients. This is very useful to sufferers of the condition as opiates are ineffective at treating pain caused by damaged nerves.
The same article points to various other studies that showed medical marijuana as being extremely effective for treating many other medical conditions, too, such as multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and schizophrenia. So, if you’re looking for a medical marijuana recommendation and have any of the conditions listed above, you could find a significant improvement in your symptoms with medical marijuana therapy.
The Benefits of Getting a Medical Marijuana Recommendation in Florida
There are a few main stand-out benefits to having a medical marijuana recommendation in Florida, ranging from legal protection and health benefits to creating local jobs, and more:
Legal Protection
You may have already been using cannabis for medical reasons, but if you don’t have a medical marijuana recommendation, you’re breaking the law — and could find you have lots of trouble on your hands as a result. It doesn’t matter if you’re using it for legitimate reasons. You can only protect yourself legally if you have a medical marijuana recommendation from a licensed doctor.
Penalties for carrying illegal marijuana in Florida vary and include:
- Fines
- Treatment for addiction
- Incarceration
If you are caught in possession of synthetic marijuana, you might face a harsher penalty than if you were carrying regular marijuana. If you’re under the age of 18, you could face time in a juvenile facility.
You don’t have to be caught selling marijuana to find yourself charged with attempted distribution, either. If you have a large amount of the drug in your possession, as well as other paraphernalia such as baggies or measuring equipment, you may be considered to be in possession with intent to sell.
Another crucial aspect of buying marijuana illegally to use to treat a medical condition is that if you’re growing 25 plants or more, the state of Florida automatically assumes you are intending to sell. This means that if you’re growing your own marijuana for medical reasons, you need to find a way of proving that your crop is for your own use, and not for intended sale.
So, you see, if you’re suffering from a debilitating condition and are using cannabis illegally to self-medicate, you would benefit significantly from a medical marijuana recommendation.
Having a medical marijuana recommendation means that you have legal protection under Florida law. With this in mind, if you’re ever pulled over for a speeding ticket and the cops search your car, you can relax and not worry that you have the drug in your possession.
Effectiveness in Treating Certain Conditions
As we touched on earlier, marijuana has a huge range of health benefits. It treats nausea in chemotherapy patients, and it can even delay the onset of blindness if you have glaucoma. If you have any of the medical conditions listed previously, you’re sure to find that medical marijuana can help.
By having a medical marijuana recommendation, you may find that you have:
- A stimulated appetite
- Less nausea / vomiting
- Help with pain relief
- An improved mood
- Lessened depression
- Reduction in eye pressure
- A better sleep
- Reduced muscle spasms
- Reduced anxiety
- And more
Effectiveness in Providing Chronic Pain Relief
According to Marijuana As Medicine, The Science Beyond the Controversy, when you’re in pain, it’s because your body is telling you that something is just not right. However, as pain can have a whole host of causes, it’s often difficult to pinpoint and to treat. Often the side effects of painkillers can be almost as debilitating as the pain, hence scientists are continuously searching for better ways of relieving long-term pain.
Interestingly, cannabinoids have shown a great deal of promise in terms of treating pain. Your peripheral nerves that detect pain sensations are filled with cannabinoid receptors, and according to the publication, studies have shown that cannabinoids seem to block peripheral nerve pain when used in animals.
The publication also noted that some of the most believable and encouraging research is coming from the area of treating chronic pain in cancer patients. Cancer is a very debilitating condition, and it causes pain in many ways. Tumors can invade your tissues and bone. Nerves can also be damaged, and your body can become inflamed in various areas. Because of these symptoms, cancer pain can be understandably severe, as well as persistent and treatment-resistant when opiate painkillers are used.
THC (the psychoactive component of marijuana) pills gave pain relief to the patients involved in the research. Approximately half of the subjects also reported that their appetites increased. They didn’t vomit or feel nauseous, and they felt calmer, too.
It’s hoped in the future that marijuana-based medicines can be combined with opiate drugs to better treat painful conditions without as many side effects.
Job Creation
This is one aspect of your own personal medical marijuana recommendation you may not have even considered. However, this fledgling industry looks set to be a huge boon to the local economy.
According to Forbes, Florida has the fifth-highest median age in the country, as well as being a very popular retirement spot. Considering this, the state is in an excellent position to serve the aging population with medical cannabis. In fact, the article states that according to one report, Florida could end up becoming 14 percent of the medical marijuana market by 2020.
Examining the outlook and the projected growth of the industry, the opportunities for tax revenue, good jobs and general wealth creation should not be understated. Therefore, a medical marijuana recommendation is not only good for you as a patient — it’s good for your local area, too.
Peace of Mind in Knowing What You’re Getting
If you buy marijuana illicitly, there’s no way at all of knowing exactly what you’re putting into your body. One of the biggest dangers of smoking illicit marijuana is that it’s potentially laced with some other dangerous substance.
Some drug dealers sell their unsuspecting customers joints that have been:
- Laced with PCP
- Dipped in embalming fluid
When you smoke a joint that’s been laced with either of these substances, it’ll make you feel euphoric, and quite possibly give you hallucinations. When marijuana is laced with PCP or embalming fluid, it can cause you to become extremely paranoid, giving you severe panic attacks and a feeling as if you’re outside your own body to the point that you have no real idea of what you’re doing. It’s likely that this sensation will be compounded by feelings that you’re invulnerable, too. When ingesting laced joints, you could have a negative reaction and feel rage and panic, rather than experiencing your usual marijuana high.
PCP is addictive, and that in itself prevents a myriad of potential issues, including needing to withdraw and detox, suffering from memory loss, developing mood disorders and having problems speaking and thinking. Embalming fluid can cause serious damage to your tissues, and users often report having problems with their lungs, esophagus, mouth, throat and fingers, as the fluid kills their cells.
That’s one of the biggest problems with buying marijuana on the street. You have absolutely no idea what could be in it. Thankfully, when you have a medical marijuana recommendation, you can be sure you’re getting a fully tested and inspected product. All medical cannabis is processed within an enclosed area away from any other plants or potential pollutants. In addition, before the marijuana is dispensed, the dispensing organization is required to run tests on it.
After the tests are run, the results require verification, and they are signed off by two dispensary employees. Two processed samples from every batch must also be retained by the dispensing organization a period of at least nine months. Another extra safeguard is that the dispensing organization needs to have a contract with a fully independent testing laboratory who will audit the organization’s standard procedures, while also testing samples and records.
To be sure of what’s going into your body when you take marijuana abide by legal medical requirements.
Get a Fast and Easy Florida Medical Marijuana Recommendation
If you’re suffering from the ill effects of a long-term medical condition and are wondering if a medical marijuana evaluation in Florida could help you, isn’t it time you found out? Seeking out a medical cannabis recommendation by using our e-visit portal at DocMJ is the first step in getting your life back on track.
Through getting your recommendation, you can go to any legal dispensary in Florida and get the pain and symptom relief you need naturally.
So, take that first step toward living a happier, healthier and more pain-free life. Simply fill in our eligibility survey form today to to immediately determine if you qualify for a medical marijuana recommendation. This is the first step in scheduling an appointment to meet with a DocMJ doctor. Then, you’ll be on your way to getting the medical marijuana you need.