How I got a medical marijuana card in Washington DC

A DC patient explains the process of obtaining here medical marijuana card, and her experience with Veriheal:

I have been approved to use medical marijuana in Washington, D.C. I’m a DC resident,  a current program patient, and am happy to tell about my experience in getting my medical marijuana card. For obvious reasons(employer information and social sharing) I chose to keep my name out of this article, but once Veriheal reached out to me to write about my experience in getting my card, I happily said I’d love to help.

In DC the medical marijuana industry is booming, and thanks to the new regulations and a hands-off approach by the federal government, people are starting to catch on to the legal wave.

Thousands of patients are enrolled in the D.C. medical marijuana program. The enrollment numbers are still small compared with medical marijuana programs in some other states, but the expansion has been so intense that dispensaries can barely keep enough marijuana on the shelves to satisfy patient demand.

Let me describe how simple the process was, in its entirety. There are pretty much two steps, get a medical marijuana recommendation, and apply to the department of health for your legal medical marijuana card.

How to find a medical marijuana doctor in DC

Getting my recommendation was the easiest part. I searched for hours to look for doctors who would approve me for medical marijuana. I came up with nothing. It turns out that doctors don’t publicize if they do consultations for medical marijuana, which made everything that much harder.

To top it off, I met with my primary care physician (PCP) to see if I could get approved for medical marijuana due to my sleeping disorders, as well as intermittent back pains, but my PCP was not able to help. They were not a registered physician with the Washington DC Medical Marijuana Program, and had no immediate interest to join. So with that disheartening update, I was back to square one.

Luckily I had a friend who knew someone that was in the medical marijuana program already. I asked them to inquire on how they got their medical marijuana card, and that’s when I discovered the most helpful company in Washington D.C., Veriheal.

About Veriheal

Veriheal is a software health company that provides virtual medical marijuana recommendations and contains an ecosystem of dispensaries and doctors who help you get you approved for medical marijuana. Their main goal is to help patients like myself, get legal access to medical marijuana.

How it worked was I booked an appointment from my phone for $199, and within an hour I already had a meeting booked with a licensed physician registered in the medical marijuana DC program. I had a 15-minute consult with the doctor the next day, and after it was done, I immediately received my recommendation.

After I was approved, the next step was just to submit an application to the Department of Health. I then was able to submit the DOH application and then I received my card in the mail in 2 weeks from the date I applied. Now I am happily purchasing cannabis legally on a weekly basis.

D.C. residents have been happy with medical marijuana for a long time. Voters passed a law over a decade ago that created the medical program, but Republican-led efforts in Congress stunted any openings.

Congress lifted the ban in 2009, which in turn prompted the D.C. City Council to approve medical use of marijuana, a medical marijuana law with more detailed regulations in place. The legislative tides eventually moved and DC opened its first dispensary in 2013.

Previously the medical marijuana program in DC had very strict conditions on who could be a part of it. Now they have changed many laws to work in the favor of the patients who intend to join. DC has become one of the most liberal medical marijuana programs in the nation, nearly on par with California.

For me, this great awakening going on in Washington DC is yet another reason not only to live in the district, but to become a medical marijuana patient. Where else can you go and legally purchase cannabis with such ease of entrance? I’m a medical marijuana patient and I continue to rave to my friends about how they can be one too. Hopefully, they choose to do it sooner than later.

Visit Veriheal and get signed up for medical marijuana in DC today.