One of the most commonly asked questions among new medical cannabis cardholders is where they can actually use their cards. The person asking the question is likely thinking about purchasing medical cannabis. But there is more to it than that.
In essence, a medical cannabis card is a license. It gives a person the legal authority to purchase, possess, and use cannabis for medicinal purposes. Therefore, the card is functional during all three types of activities. That is what makes the question of where a medical cannabis card can be used so interesting.
Purchasing Medical Cannabis Products
Let us start by discussing the use of a medical cannabis card to purchase products. In states that only allow medical cannabis (no recreational) sales are conducted in state-licensed pharmacies or dispensaries. Such is the case in Utah, according to BeehiveMed.com.
State law requires that all medical cannabis consumed in Utah be purchased from a state-licensed pharmacy. Users are not allowed to purchase cannabis from out-of-state and then carried across the border into Utah. They also cannot consume cannabis given to them by others. Each patient must purchase their own medical cannabis had a recognized pharmacy.
More than a dozen states also allow recreational cannabis alongside medical. Some of those states still draw a distinction between medical cannabis pharmacies and recreational dispensaries. But other states allow dispensaries to sell both medical and recreational products.
Regardless of how a state dispenses medical cannabis, possessing a medical cannabis card does not give a patient the right to purchase products on the black market. Illicit cannabis is still illegal. Nothing about possessing a card changes that.
Possessing Medical Cannabis Products
A medical cannabis card acts as legal protection for possessing approved medical cannabis products in a particular state. For example, a Utah patient will have cannabis products in his possession after leaving a pharmacy. There is no other way to get the products home. He might also carry medical cannabis with him to work, when going out with friends, etc.
Basically, there are no limits to possession outside of those imposed by the medical cannabis card itself. Looking at Utah once again, a patient is allowed to possess the equivalent of one month’s supply of medical cannabis up to a certain limit of THC by volume. The patient can possess their products anywhere in the state of Utah.
Likewise, an adult with a caregiver’s card can possess medical cannabis on behalf of the person they are caring for. The caregiver can transport medical cannabis home from the pharmacy. They can possess the same products when taking the patient outside of their home.
Using Medical Cannabis Products
Finally is the question of using medical cannabis products under the umbrella of possessing a medical cannabis card. Using in the privacy of one’s home is always allowed. Most states also allow consuming certain types of products in public places, at work, and so forth. This includes consumption via edibles, capsules and tablets, and oral tinctures.
What is generally not allowed is vaping and dry heating cannabis in public spaces. So even with a medical cannabis card, you could not vape that at a Utah restaurant. You could not dry heat raw cannabis flower while sitting on a park bench in the city.
As a state-issued license of sorts, the medical cannabis card affords patients certain rights and privileges those with cards do not have. But a medical cannabis card is not a license to do whatever one pleases. There are rules that must be followed an all times.