Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Doctors No Longer Needed For Seniors To Get Medical Marijuana In DC

The emergency legislation is meant to ease logistical burdens for medical marijuana patients and encourage people to get their cannabis from licensed dispensaries.

By Maureen Meehan

It is about to become much easier for senior citizens to register for medical marijuana in Washington D.C.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed a bill into law that will expand access to the District’s medical marijuana program in a series of ways.

Photo by rawpixel.com

For starters, people 65 and older can “self-certify that they will use cannabis for medical purposes in lieu of including a recommendation from their health care practitioner with their registration application as is required for all other applicants,” the administration said.

The law also extends the registration renewal deadline for other patients and creates a week-long medical marijuana tax “holiday” that happens to coincide with 4/20.

It is about to become much easier for senior citizens to register for medical marijuana in Washington D.C.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has signed a bill into law that will expand access to the District’s medical marijuana program in a series of ways.

For starters, people 65 and older can “self-certify that they will use cannabis for medical purposes in lieu of including a recommendation from their health care practitioner with their registration application as is required for all other applicants,” the administration said.

The law also extends the registration renewal deadline for other patients and creates a week-long medical marijuana tax “holiday” that happens to coincide with 4/20.

seniors cannabis
Photo by Westend61/Getty Images

RELATED: Can You Legally Smoke Weed In DC? It’s Complicated

Senior Week is part of the Medical Marijuana Patient Access Extension Emergency Amendment Act of 2022, which Mayor Bowser signed into law last week.

There’s more: Patient and caregiver registrations issued through Sept. 30 will be good for two years, which is double the usual term; the registration fees are already waived through April 24 and medical cannabis products purchased at any of D.C.’s seven licensed dispensaries will be exempt from the 6% sales tax.

RELATED: Survey: Seniors In Pain Want To Try Cannabis, But This Is Preventing Them

The emergency legislation is meant to ease logistical burdens for medical marijuana patients and encourage people to get their cannabis from licensed dispensaries, rather than the gray market vendors.

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.

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