MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGAL STATES AND THEIR QUALIFYING CONDITIONS

• NEW YORK

Right now, New Yorkers 21 years old and older can possess, obtain and transport up to 3 ounces of cannabis. New Yorkers can also possess up to 24 grams of concentrated cannabis oil. Eventually under this law, New Yorkers will be able to store up to five pounds of marijuana at their home.

1. ALASKA

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Multiple sclerosis

*Treatment for any of the above conditions, as well as any “chronic or debilitating disease or treatment of such diseases which produces, for a specific patient, one or more of the following”:

• Cachexia (Wasting Syndrome)
• Chronic or severe pain
• Severe nausea
• Epilepsy/seizures
• Persistent muscle spasms (relating to MS)

2. ARIZONA

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Hepatitis C
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Crohn’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s disease

*A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition that causes any one of the following:

• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Severe and chronic pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures/epilepsy
• Severe or persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis)

3. ARKANSAS

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• ALS
• Tourette’s syndrome
• Crohn’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• PTSD
• Severe arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Intractable pain (pain that has not responded to ordinary medications, treatment or surgical measures for more than six (6) months)
• Severe nausea
• Epilepsy/seizures
• Persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis)

*Any other medical condition or its treatment which is approved by the Department of Health.

4. CALIFORNIA

*No specific qualifying conditions – the use of medical marijuana and issuance of an MMJ card in California is up to the discretion of the physician.

5.COLORADO

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV or AIDS
• Cachexia
• Persistent muscle spasms
• Seizures
• Severe nausea
• Severe pain
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

6. CONNECTICUT

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Spinal cord damage / Intractable spasticity
• Epilepsy / Incontrollable seizures
• Cachexia / Wasting Syndrome
• Crohn’s Disease
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Sickle Cell Disease
• Post Laminectomy Syndrome w/ Chronic Radiculopathy
• Severe Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis
• ALS
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Terminal Illness Requiring End-Of-Life Care
• Spasticity or Neuropathic Pain Associated with Fibromyalgia
• Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Post Herpetic Neuralgia
• Hydrocephalus with Intractable Headache
• Intractable Headache Syndromes
• Neuropathic Facial Pain
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Osteogenesis Imperfecta

7. DELAWARE

• Terminal illness
• Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Decompensated cirrhosis
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS / Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
• Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Intractable epilepsy
• Autism (w/ self-injurious or aggressive behavior)
• Glaucoma
• Chronic Debilitating Migraines

*A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe, debilitating pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measure for more than three months, or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects.
• Intractable nausea
• Seizures
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of Multiple Sclerosis

8. FLORIDA

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Crohn’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those above
• A terminal condition diagnosed by a physician other than the qualified physician issuing the physician certification
• Chronic nonmalignant pain caused by a qualifying medical condition or that originates from a qualifying medical condition and persists beyond the usual course of that qualifying medical condition

9. HAWAII

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• Lupus
• Epilepsy
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• HIV/AIDS
• PTSD

*The treatment of these conditions or a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

• Cachexia (wasting syndrome)
• Severe pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures/epilepsy
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms (including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease)

10. ILLINOIS

• Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
• HIV/AIDS
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Arnold-Chiari malformation
• Cancer
• Causalgia
• Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
• Crohn’s disease
• CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome Type II)
• Dystonia
• Fibrous Dysplasia
• Glaucoma
• Hepatitis C
• Hydrocephalus
• Hydromyelia
• Interstitial cystitis
• Lupus
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Myasthenia Gravis
• Myoclonus
• Nail-patella syndrome
• Neurofibromatosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Post-Concussion Syndrome
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
• Residual limb pain
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Seizures (including those characteristic of Epilepsy)
• Severe fibromyalgia
• Sjogren’s syndrome
• Spinal cord disease (including but not limited to arachnoiditis)
• Spinal cord injury is damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
• Spinocerebellar ataxia
• Syringomyelia
• Tarlov cysts
• Tourette syndrome
• Traumatic brain injury
• Cachexia/wasting syndrome

11. LOUISIANA

• Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Seizure disorders / epilepsy
• Spasticity
• Crohn’s disease
• Muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis
• Glaucoma
• Parkinson’s disease
• Severe muscle spasms
• Intractable pain
• Post-traumatic disorder (PTSD)

*Any of these four conditions associated with autism spectrum disorder:

• Repetitive or self-stimulatory behavior of such severity that the physical health of the person with autism is jeopardized
• Avoidance of others or inability to communicate of such severity that the physical health of the person with autism is jeopardized
• Self-injuring behavior
• Physically aggressive or destructive behavior

12. MAINE

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Nail-patella syndrome or the treatment of these conditions;
• A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces intractable pain, which is pain that has not responded to ordinary medical or surgical measures for more than 6 months

*A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe nausea
• Seizures (including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy)

*Any other medical condition or its treatment as approved by the DHHS, or:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Dyskinetic and spastic movement disorders
• Other diseases causing severe and persistent muscle spasms

13. MARYLAND

• Cachexia / wasting syndrome
• Anorexia
• Severe pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures
• Severe or persistent muscle spasms
• Glaucoma
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Chronic pain

14. MASSACHUSETTS

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Cancer
• Crohn’s disease
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Other conditions as approved by a qualifying patient’s physician

15. MICHIGAN

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Crohn’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Arthritis
• Autism
• Chronic pain
• Colitis / UC
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Parkinson’s
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Spinal cord injury
• Tourette’s syndrome
• Nail Patella, or the treatment of the following conditions:
• A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that  results in wasting syndrome; severe and chronic pain; severe nausea; seizures, and  severe and persistent muscle spasms.

16. MINNESOTA

• Cancer (associated with severe/chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia or severe wasting syndrome)
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Tourette Syndrome
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Seizures/epilepsy
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of Multiple Sclerosis
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Terminal illness (with a probable life expectancy of less than one year)
• Intractable pain
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Autism
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea

*If your illness or its treatment produces one or more of the following, you must suffer from cancer or a terminal illness with a probable life expectancy of under one year in order to qualify for the program:

• Severe or chronic pain
• Nausea or severe vomiting
• Cachexia or severe wasting

17. MISSOURI

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• Intractable migraines
• Chronic pain or persistent muscle spasms (including those associated with multiple sclerosis, seizures, Parkinson’s disease, and Tourette’s syndrome)
• Debilitating psychiatric disorders (including but not limited to PTSD)
• HIV / AIDS
• A medical condition typically treated with prescription drugs that could lead to physical or psychological dependence
• Any terminal illness
• Any other chronic debilitating medical condition, including but not limited to: Hepatitis C / ALS / Irritable Bowel Syndrome / Crohn’s disease / Huntington’s disease / Autism / Neuropathy / Sickle cell anemia / Alzheimer’s disease / Cachexia / Wasting syndrome

18. MONTANA

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe chronic pain
• Intractable nausea or vomiting
• Epilepsy or an intractable seizure disorder
• Multiple sclerosis
• Crohn’s disease
• Painful peripheral neuropathy
• A central nervous system disorder resulting in chronic, painful spasticity or muscle spasms
• Admittance into hospice care
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

19. NEVADA

• Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Cachexia (general physical wasting and malnutrition from chronic disease)
• Persistent muscle spasms (including multiple sclerosis)
• Seizures (including epilepsy)
• Severe nausea
• Severe pain
• Additional conditions as subject to approval by the Nevada DPBH (Division of Public and Behavioral Health)

20. NEW HAMPSHIRE

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Muscular dystrophy
• Crohn’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Chronic pancreatitis
• Spinal cord injury or disease
• Traumatic brain injury (TMI)
• Epilepsy
• Lupus
• Parkinson’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Ulcerative colitis
• Ehlers-Danlos syndrome

*One or more injuries or conditions that has resulted in one of the following qualifying symptoms, or a severely debilitating or terminal medical condition or its treatment that has produced at least one of the following:

• Elevated intraocular pressure (glaucoma)
• Cachexia / Wasting syndrome
• Chemotherapy-induced anorexia
• Severe pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures, or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects
• Constant or severe nausea
• Moderate to severe vomiting
• Seizures
• Severe  or persistent muscle spasms

“Qualifying medical condition” can also mean:

• Moderate to severe chronic pain
• Severe pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects
• Moderate or severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

21. NEW JERSEY

•  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
• Multiple sclerosis
• Terminal cancer
• Muscular dystrophy
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Crohn’s disease
• Any terminal illness with a prognosis of less than 12 months
• Seizure disorders (including epilepsy)
• Intractable skeletal muscular spasticity
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Glaucoma (if traditional medicine has failed)
•  Severe or chronic pain
• Severe nausea or vomiting
• Wasting syndrome caused by HIV/AIDS and cancer
•  Anxiety
•  Migraines
•  Tourette’s syndrome
•  Chronic pain related to musculoskeletal disorders (including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia and opioid use disorder)
•  Chronic pain of “visceral origin” (including pancreatitis, irritable bowel syndrome and bowel dysfunction)

22. NEW MEXICO

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Cancer
• Crohn’s Disease
• Epilepsy/Seizure Disorders
• Glaucoma
• HCV infection and receiving antiviral treatment currently
• HIV/AIDS
• Huntington’s Disease
• Hospice Care
• Inclusion Body Myositis
• Inflammatory autoimmune-mediated arthritis
• Intractable Nausea/Vomiting
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord
• Painful Peripheral Neuropathy
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Severe Chronic Pain
• Severe Anorexia
• Cachexia
• Spasmodic Torticollis (Cervical Dystonia)
• Ulcerative Colitis
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea

23. NEW YORK

• Cancer
• HIV infection or AIDS
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Spinal cord injury with spasticity
• Epilepsy
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Neuropathy
• Huntington’s disease
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Chronic pain

*Any condition for which an opioid could be prescribed, or for which a severe debilitating or life-threatening condition is accompanied by one or more of the following conditions or complications:

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe or chronic pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures
• Severe or persistent muscle spasms
• PTSD or opioid use disorder (only if enrolled in a treatment program certified pursuant to Article 32 of the Mental Hygiene Law)

24. NORTH DAKOTA

Program is in progress and is not yet operational; dispensaries are estimated to begin opening statewide in the first quarter of 2019. (For the most up-to-date information, check this link).

25. OHIO

Program is NOT YET OPERATIONAL, but dispensaries are set to begin opening January 15, 2019.

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) / Lou Gehrig’s disease
• Cancer
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• Crohn’s disease
• Epilepsy
• Fibromyalgia
• Glaucoma
• Hepatitis C
• HIV-AIDS
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• Chronic pain or severe/intractable pain
• Multiple sclerosis
• Parkinson’s disease
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Sickle cell anemia
• Spinal cord disease or injury
• Tourette Syndrome
• Traumatic brain injury
• Ulcerative colitis

[Check here for the most up-to-date information on Qualifying Conditions for Ohio]. 

26. OKLAHOMA

Application and recommendation must be submitted by a licensed Oklahoma physician. There are currently no specific qualifying conditions (recommendations are left up to the discretion of the physician).

[You can access the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Patient Application here].

27. OREGON

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• A degenerative or pervasive neurological condition
• HIV/AIDS
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A medical condition or treatment for a medical condition that produces one or more of the following: 

• Cachexia (a weight-loss disease that can be caused by HIV or cancer)
• Severe pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures, including but not limited to seizures caused by epilepsy
• Persistent muscle spasm, including but not limited to spasms caused by multiple sclerosis

28. PENNSYLVANIA

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Autism
• Cancer, including remission therapy
• 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

29. RHODE ISLAND

• Cancer
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Hepatitis C

A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:

• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe, debilitating, chronic pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn’s disease
• Agitation related to Alzheimer’s Disease

30. UTAH

Program is NOT YET OPERATIONAL. Utah’s medical marijuana program was voted into law November 2018, but the program is not expected to be implemented until  March 1, 2020. Specific qualifying conditions have yet to be determined.

31. VERMONT

• Cancer
• Multiple sclerosis
• HIV
• AIDS
• Glaucoma
• Crohn’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease

Or the treatment of ANY ONE OF THE ABOVE conditions, or if the disease or the treatment results in severe, persistent, and intractable symptoms of:

• PTSD (provided the applicant is undergoing psychotherapy or counseling with a licensed mental health care provider)
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Chronic pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures

32. WASHINGTON

• Cancer
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
• Multiple sclerosis
• Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
• Spasticity disorders
• Intractable pain (limited for the purpose of this chapter to mean pain unrelieved by standard medical treatments and medications)
• Glaucoma
• Crohn’s disease
• Hepatitis C

Other diseases which result in:

• Anorexia
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Wasting
• Appetite loss
• Cramping
• Seizures
• Muscle spasms / spasticity
• Chronic renal failure requiring hemodialysis
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI)

33. WEST VIRGINIA

No specific qualifying conditions: patients must be diagnosed with a “serious medical condition” as certified by a physician. Click here to access the official West Virginia MMJ application.

34. WASHINGTON D.C.

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
• Glaucoma
• Conditions characterized by severe and persistent muscle spasms, such as multiple sclerosis
• Cancer

Medical treatments that qualify for the use of medical marijuana:

• Chemotherapy
• Use of azidothymidine or protease inhibitors
• Radiotherapy

35. PUERTO RICO

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Epilepsy
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Spinal cord injuries
• Crohn’s Disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Anxiety disorders
• Hepatitis C
• Arthritis
• Anorexia

As of early 2019, there are currently 10 recreational states in the U.S. These include:

• Alaska
• California
• Colorado
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Nevada
• Oregon
• Vermont
• Washington