FAQ About Your First Medical Marijuana Card Evaluation

More and more states are allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes as researchers, doctors, and patients begin to better understand and embrace its benefits. However, if you want to use medical marijuana in most of these states, you first have to be evaluated by a doctor and issued a medical marijuana card. Most patients look forward to their evaluation with a combination of excitement and apprehension. They are excited to finally get access to this medicine, but they're not sure what to expect. Browsing the answers to these FAQ should help you get a better idea of what to expect so that as your appointment grows closer, you can just focus on the excitement.

What kinds of questions will the doctor ask?

The doctor evaluating you will mostly be interested in any symptoms you experience and any diagnoses you have already had. They won't ask you detailed questions about your past marijuana use. Their goal in questioning you is not to prove you don't need cannabis or trip you up. They simply want to understand what you are going through and establish that cannabis can, in fact, help. Expect questions like, "how many headaches do you have each month?" and "How severe would you rate your anxiety, on a scale from 1 to 10."

Do you need to bring your past medical records?

It can be helpful to bring your medical records along, but they're not likely to be required. If the doctor doing your evaluation needs to know more about your diagnosis, they'll just ask you. 

Will you have to undergo any tests?

Typically, this is just a verbal consultation. If you suffer from a pain condition, the doctor may press on certain areas and ask "does this hurt" to help assess your level of pain, but beyond that, you won't have to undergo any tests or even a full physical.

Will you get your card as soon as the evaluation is done?

Although television often shows people leaving their evaluations with medical marijuana cards, this is not how things work in reality. Your doctor will have to submit your information to the state, which will issue you a card and send it to you in the mail. It will typically take you a week or two to receive the card, although this varies from state to state.

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of what to expect when getting your medical marijuana card. It's not as annoying or invasive a process as most people fear. Just remember — the evaluating doctor has your best interests in mind and is looking for reasons to give you the card, not to keep you from getting a card.

To learn more, contact a local medical marijuana doctor.