About the PA Medical Marijuana Card Program: An Overview

The PA Medical Marijuana program give patients the legal means to buy and possess medical cannabis to treat a broad set of state-approved health conditions. Patients become eligible for a medical card after being certified for medical marijuana use by a licensed medical practitioner; that's us!

On the surface the process can seem complicated, but it can be broken down into 3 simple steps. Patients who want to participate in the medical cannabis program must follow these steps:

1. Create a patient profile in the Department of Health’s patient and caregiver registry (we can assist with this step if needed).
2. Obtain a physician’s certification from Herbal Care Rx by booking a telehealth appointment online.
3. Return to the Patient and Caregivers Registry and pay the $50 fee for your medical marijuana ID card. It will be mailed to you and patients usually receive it within two weeks. 

Thankfully, because all appointments can be conducted remotely over the phone, we can see patients from all over the state of Pennsylvania from Erie to Philadelphia!

For a full listing of the rules and regulations governing the dispensing of medicinal cannabis, please follow this link to the official site of the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program. Please see Qualifying Conditions below for a list of medical conditions approved for medicinal cannabis use.  

Medical cannabis can alleviate many symptoms depending on the type of product that is used and the way it is used. Using cannabis to decrease the severity of symptoms can lead to improved function and improved quality of life.

Under the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act, “serious medical conditions” are defined as any one of the following:  (listed in alphabetical order)

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
• Anxiety.
• Autism.
• Cancer, including remission therapy.
• Chronic Hepatitis C 
• Crohn’s disease.
• Damage to the nervous tissue of the central nervous system (brain-spinal cord) with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, and other associated neuropathies.
• Dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders.
• Epilepsy.
• Glaucoma.
• HIV / AIDS.
• Huntington’s disease.
• Inflammatory bowel disease.
• Intractable seizures.
• Multiple sclerosis.
• Neurodegenerative diseases.
• Neuropathies.
• Opioid use disorder for which conventional therapeutic interventions are contraindicated or ineffective, or for which adjunctive therapy is indicated in combination with primary therapeutic interventions.
• Parkinson’s disease.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Severe chronic or intractable pain of neuropathic origin or severe chronic or intractable pain.
• Sickle cell anemia.
• Terminal illness.
• Tourette syndrome.

All patients pay the Department of Health $50 for their MMJ cards. These cards are valid for 1-year. 

Renewing your MMJ card with the Department of Health also costs $50, and you will be issued a new card

If you currently are enrolled in PACE/SSI/MEDICARE or MEDICAID, there will be an option to fully waive the cost of the card fee. 

Part of our mission is making medical cannabis (also known as medical marijuana) accessible to those who need it; this includes keeping the costs for patients low. We have some of the cheapest certifications in PA, especially for Veterans!

For your medical marijuana certification consultation, you will pay either

• $125 as a new patient

                               or

• $75 as a renewing patient

                               or

• $75 as a new patient Veteran or receiving SSI benefits

At most, acquiring your medical marijuana card will cost $175 ($50 card fee + $125 consultation fee) or $125 ($50 card fee + $75 consultation fee)