ABOUT THE LAW
It is legal for a patient with a Rhode Island registry ID card to use marijuana for medical purposes. Patients may also grow marijuana and appoint 2 primary caregivers for assistance in growing and obtaining medicine from a dispensary.
A patient may have up to twelve plants and two and one-half ounces of usable marijuana. Plants must be stored in an indoor facility.
Public consumption is not allowed in Rhode Island.
Employers may not rightfully terminate a qualified patient from her/his employment solely because of patient status. However, employers are not expected to accommodate the medical use of marijuana in any workplace.
No landlord may refuse to lease to or otherwise penalize a person solely for his or her status as a medical marijuana patient or primary caregiver.
ELIGIBLE CONDITIONS
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/ AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe, debilitating, chronic pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Any other medical condition or treatment, approved by the DOH in the future
APPLICATION PROCESS
There is a patient application fee of $100, but this fee can be reduced to $25 with proof of Medicaid, SSI, or SSDI.
Application forms and instructions can be found at http://www.health.ri.gov/programs/medicalmarijuana/index.php.
A written doctor’s recommendation must be included with the application.
The State of Rhode Island no Longer requires a $25 fee to register our dispensary with the Department of Health as one of your caregivers. Any patient of the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Program can obtain medicine from our facility.
For more information on how to become a patient, please visit the Rhode Island Department of Health website by clicking this link http://www.health.ri.gov/healthcare/medicalmarijuana/for/patients/ or feel free to call us at 401-274-1000.
ACCESS/CAREGIVERS
You may designate a primary caregiver to assist you with cultivating and using medical marijuana. Your primary caregiver must be at least twenty-one (21) years old and cannot have a felony drug conviction.
The Department of Health may allow a person to serve as a primary caregiver if he/she was convicted solely for conduct that is permitted under the Rhode Island medical marijuana provisions. The Department may also make an exception if the caregiver is your close relative and his/her felony conviction was ten (10) or more years ago.
A person can be a primary caregiver for no more than five (5) qualifying patients. A patient can only have up to two (2) primary caregivers. A primary caregiver with a registry ID card can possess up to twelve (12) marijuana plants and two and one-half (2.5) ounces of usable marijuana for each qualifying patient they are a primary caregiver for.
A primary caregiver cannot have more than twenty-four (24) marijuana plants and five (5) ounces of usable marijuana no matter how many patients he or she is serving. A primary caregiver may receive reimbursement for costs associated with assisting a registered qualifying patient’s medical use of marijuana.
