medical marijuana program faq
Questions About Your Doctor Appointment and Forms
General Information about the Program -
- An applicant/patient must be a Michigan resident to be registered in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Program (MMMP). Proof of residency is defined as a 1) Michigan Driver License, 2) Michigan Identification Card, or 3) other approved photo ID and Michigan voter registration card. Approved photo IDs are listed in the Administrative Rules, Section 3(b).
- There is an application fee with the State of Michigan to register for the MMMP. This fee is separate from any fee a physician may charge. The State fee cannot be waived or discounted. Currently, a patient state registration fee is $60. An additional $25 caregiver fee is applied if assigning a caregiver.
- An applicant must have a qualifying debilitating medical condition as approved by the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act and indicated on the Physician's Certification.
- The MMMP cannot supply qualifying patients or their primary caregivers with seeds or starter plants or give advice on how to grow medical marihuana plants.
- An applicant's/patient's physician must be a Medical Doctor (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) fully licensed to practice in Michigan. An applicant/patient must have an established patient/physician relationship. Other licensed health professionals such as chiropractors, physician's assistants or nurse practitioners cannot sign the certification.
- The MMMP cannot refer you to a physician and we do not have a physician referral list.
- An applicant/patient will designate on their application if the patient or their designated primary caregiver will grow the marihuana plants.
- The MMMP cannot find a primary caregiver for an applicant/patient and cannot find an applicant/patient for a primary caregiver. The MMMP is a confidential program and does not keep referral lists.
- An applicant/patient over 18 years of age is not required to designate a caregiver
- To protect the patient's confidentiality, the MMMP will only speak directly with the patient regarding the patient's registration.
- The Act neither protects marihuana plants from seizure nor individuals from prosecution if the federal government chooses to take action against patients or caregivers under the federal Controlled Substances Act.
- For further questions and answers, click here for our FAQs.
The MMMA defines a “Primary Caregiver” as a person who is at least 21 years old and who has agreed to assist with a patient’s medical use of marihuana and who has never been convicted of a felony involving illegal drugs. The State currently charges a $25 non refundable fee each time a patient assigns you as a caregiver.
You need to bring your driver’s license and method of payment ( cash or credit card), and any available medical records pertaining to your qualifying condition. If none exist, no worries.
At GreenLight Wellness, there are NO HIDDEN FEES or clubs you must join. We charge $129 for new patients and $99. for renewal office visits. The state of Michigan charges $60 for patient registry fee, and $25 for caregiver fee for the two year registry period. We do not charge for state forms. We do offer a complete optional mailing service for $25.00
We aim to keep our appointments on time and under 15 min. Your entire visit should take about 45min-1 hour.
The State of Michigan receives over 1000 applications per week! (They sure are making alot of money off of this program!) They have recently significantly increased the speed in which they issue patients a card. It used to take 6-8 months, now patients are receiving their cards between 2 weeks- 2 months. Remember, your paperwork will serve as a temporary license until your card. Keep your copy of the state forms for your personal record.
Greenlight Wellness only keeps contact information, patient history, and doctor certifications on file for the doctor’s records. All information is kept private, secure, and confidential. We do not release any information to anyone without your written consent.
Absolutely, you only pay if you qualify.
The State can only deny an application if the forms and/or check are not filled out correctly. They cannot deny based on the doctor’s recommendation or medical history.
The MMMP has 15 days to review your application to make sure it is complete and all parts are current. If your application is complete, your registry identification card will be issued within 5 days after the MMMP verifies the information on your application. If you don’t send in all the required parts of your application, the application will be denied.
Yes. If your application has not yet been approved, denied or terminated you may provide law enforcement with a copy of your written documentation submitted to the department; you must also submit proof of the date of mailing or other transmission of the documentation. This documentation shall have the same legal effect as a registry identification card, until such time as you receive your card or you have received notification that your application has been approved, denied or terminated.
The state will maintain a confidential list of “qualified patients” and “approved caregivers” to whom the department has issued registry identification cards. Individual names and other identifying information on the list must be confidential and is not subject to disclosure, except to:
(a) authorized employees of the department as necessary to perform official duties of the department; or
(b) authorized employees of state or local law enforcement agencies, only as necessary to verify that a person is a lawful possessor of a registry identification card.
Yes. The MMMP does not give out lists of patients or caregivers. Law enforcement personnel may contact the MMMP only to verify if a patient or caregiver registration card is valid. The MMMP will tell law enforcement staff if the patient or caregiver is registered. The MMMP will disclose patient information to others only at the specific written request of the patient. MMMP computer files are secure and paper files are kept locked when not in use.
The answer to these questions is “yes”. You are required to tell the MMMP in writing of any such changes within 14 days of the change. The MMMP does not accept changes of information over the telephone. The MMMP only accepts written changes about the patient’s name, the patient’s address, the patient’s telephone number, the patient’s physician, or the patient’s primary caregiver. There is a $10.00 fee for issuance of a new registry card. Your new card reflects the changes you have requested. Your changes will be made in our computer database and will be put in your file. You will be protected from civil and criminal penalties for these changes. If you change your caregiver, you will be asked to return your old caregiver card within 14 days.
The federal government classifies marihuana as a Schedule 1 drug, which means that licensed medical practitioners cannot prescribe it. Your physician must provide written certification of a “debilitating medical condition” and can only recommend the use of medical marihuana.
The MMMA provides for a system of designated caregivers. The caregiver can acquire 2.5 ounces of usable marihuana and grow up to 12 marihuana plants for a qualifying patient. The caregiver may assist up to 5 patients. The caregiver must sign a statement agreeing to provide marihuana only to the qualifying patients who have named the individual as their caregiver. The caregiver’s name, address, birth date and social security number must be provided to the state at the time of a patient’s registration. The Department will issue a registry identification card to the caregiver who is named by a qualifying patient on his/her application. The Department may not issue a registry identification card to a proposed caregiver who has previously been convicted of a felony drug offense. The Department will verify through a background check with the Michigan State Police that the designated caregiver has no disqualifying felony drug conviction. A caregiver may receive reasonable compensation for services provided to assist with a qualifying patient’s medical use of marihuana.
Under the MMMA, only a person with a qualifying debilitating medical condition who has obtained a valid MMMP card is exempt from criminal laws of the state for engaging in the medical use of marihuana as justified to mitigate the symptoms or effects of the person’s debilitating medical condition.
The MMMP enforces the registration process making sure applications are complete before issuing a registry identification card, terminating incomplete or fraudulent applications, and revoking cards if individuals commit violations of the MMMA. The MMMP verifies the validity of a registration card of patients and caregivers with local and state law enforcement personnel if they call the MMMP requesting such information. Local and state law enforcement personnel may take any action they believe is necessary to enforce the criminal laws of the state, including violations of the MMMA. Local and state law enforcement actions may vary. The MMMP has no authority to direct the activities of local and state law enforcement agencies.
Yes, in Section 4 of the MMMA, asserting medical use of your “paraphernalia relating to the consumption of marihuana” is an affirmative defense.
No, not under Michigan law. Possession of, or application for, a registry identification card does not alone constitute probable cause to search the person or property of the person possessing or applying for the registry identification card or otherwise subject the person or property to inspection by any governmental agency, including a law enforcement agency.
Presuming you are registered with the state patient registry and carrying your registry identification card, the law does not specifically prohibit the use of medical marihuana in those settings. However, the facility or home may have prohibitions. Therefore, you must verify with the facility if using medical marihuana is permitted and under what circumstances or conditions.
Presuming you are registered with the state patient registry and carrying your registry identification card, you may consume medical marihuana on your property or elsewhere. However, the law does not permit any person to do any of the following:
(1) Undertake any task under the influence of marihuana, when doing so would constitute negligence or professional malpractice.
(2) Possess marihuana, or otherwise engage in the medical use of marihuana:
- In a school bus
- On the grounds of any preschool or primary or secondary school or
- In any correctional facility.
(3) Smoke marihuana:
- On any form of public transportation or
- In any public place.
(4) Operate, navigate, or be in actual physical control of any motor vehicle, aircraft, or motorboat while under the influence of marihuana.
It is up to you to decide whether or not to tell your landlord that you are a patient in the MMMP. Nothing in the MMMA specifically addresses whether or not you can be evicted because you are a patient in the MMMP, even if you have only the amount of medical marihuana allowed by law. Nothing in the MMMA specifically addresses whether or not a person can be an MMMP patient and live in subsidized housing. If you have questions about these important issues, you may wish to talk to an attorney to learn about your rights and protections.
The MMMA defines a “Primary Caregiver” as a person who is at least 21 years old and who has agreed to assist with a patient’s medical use of marihuana and who has never been convicted of a felony involving illegal drugs. Therefore, the qualifying patient (applicant or registrant) and you must complete a “Caregiver Attestation” to be submitted by the qualifying patient.