Getting your Pennsylvania medical marijuana card is relatively easy. The major things you have to do include getting your patient ID number by creating a profile on the PA Department of Health (DOH) website, getting certified by an “approved” physician (like our compassionate cannabis doctors at Elevate Holistics), and buying your ID card on the DOH website.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps of getting a medical marijuana card in Pennsylvania to help make the process as simple and efficient as possible. Then, this can get you on the path to your cannabis medicine.
Who Can Get a Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card?
Any PA resident with an approved serious medical condition is eligible for a medical card. The patient must be certified by a doctor participating in the MMJ program. Approved “serious medical conditions” include:
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Anxiety disorders
- Autism
- Cancer, including remission therapy
- Crohn’s disease
- Damage to nervous tissue of the central nervous system (brain-spinal cord) with the 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 disease
- 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 sever chronic or intractable pain
- Sickle cell anemia
- Terminal illness
- Tourette syndrome
Steps for Getting an MMJ ID Card in PA
There are four steps to complete in obtaining your Pennsylvania medical marijuana card. These should be done in the following order:
- Register on the website. (Do this first to establish your patient ID, which you will need for the next step.)
- See an approved practitioner to get certified.
- Pay for your MMJ ID card.
- Visit a PA dispensary with your MMJ ID card.
Okay, let’s break it down.
1. Register on the DOH Website
First, to get your medical marijuana card in Pennsylvania, you must create a patient profile to get your patient ID number. You will need this in order to get certified by an approved doctor.
Your patient profile contains all of your relevant information, like address, phone number, email, etc. Whenever you log on to your account, you’ll be able to access your profile by going to “profile settings’. This is where you will find your ID number. It’s also where you will go to update your personal info, which you will need to keep current.
To create an account, you will first enter your personal information. When registering as an adult patient, you’ll need your valid PA driver’s license or state-issued ID card. Be sure to use your first and last name exactly as it appears on your state ID. The DOH system will only accept a middle initial. Therefore, if your driver’s license or ID has your middle name spelled out, then simply enter your middle initial into the DOH system. Enter your mailing address as it appears on the license, but in the spaces provided for numbers, do not use hyphens or separate numbers by spaces.
After your profile information is entered, you will be prompted to create a username and password. Keep in mind, these will be case-sensitive, so you’ll need to enter them exactly how you did when you created them. You’ll also need a working email address.
You will know you are successfully registered by a screen that shows your patient information, including your patient ID. Additionally, you can expect a confirmation email that includes details about your next step: physician certification.
2. Get Certified with Elevate Holistics
The second step to getting your Pennsylvania medical marijuana card is to get certified by an approved physician. Elevate offers convenient, same-day appointments with doctors that specialize in cannabis medicine and see patients like you every day. And you can’t beat the safety and convenience of being able to have a doctor visit from your own home.
Our platform is user-friendly and super-secure, as we are HIPAA-compliant. Your medical information is important and always safe with us. Feel free to check out our reviews to see our many happy clients.
3. Pay for Your MMJ Card
Once certified, the doctor will enter your certification into the system. You will then receive a confirmation email telling you how to purchase your MMJ ID card. This involves going to the login page and logging in with your username and password (Remember: Your username and password are case-sensitive). Click on the “Make Payment” tab and follow the prompts. The fee is $50. You may qualify for a discount if you participate in Medicaid, PACE/PACENET, CHIP, SNAP, and WIC.
Expect your ID card in the mail within 2-3 weeks. It will come to the address you entered in your patient profile. If your card doesn’t arrive after 3 weeks, you can request a new one in the “Profile Settings” tab once you sign in to your account.
4. Visit a PA Dispensary with Your Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card
Go ahead, make it official! If you have designated a caregiver, and they have their ID card, they can pick up your medical cannabis for you. Here’s a list of PA dispensaries from the DOH website. Also, check out our post on the top dispensaries in Pennsylvania.
Patients Who Don’t Need to Purchase a Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card
Patients that are minors, adult patients that are homebound, and adult patients that benefit from assistance — such as nonverbal patients or ones that are unable to make their own medical decisions — do not need to purchase a Pennsylvania medical marijuana card as they will not be entering a dispensary. However, they will still need to register. Minors (patients under 18) must be registered by a caregiver (see our posts on the processes for caregivers and minors). Homebound patients and those that require assistance may register themselves or be registered by a designated caregiver.
Elevate Holistics — Your Online Clinic in PA
If you’re ready to book an appointment, our compassionate and DOH-approved cannabis doctors are ready to help you with your certification! Easy, safe, and secure certifications — that’s the Elevate way! So, what’re you waiting for? Start the process to get your Pennsylvania medical marijuana card and reap the benefits of legal medical cannabis.
