Understanding Your Florida Medical Cannabis Recommendation
Understanding your medical cannabis recommendation is essential for properly navigating life as a Florida medical cannabis patient. You will need access to your Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use Registry account in order to locate your orders. For more information on accessing and setting up this account check out this blog post.
Medication Orders
You can access your medical cannabis recommendation in the Medical Marijuana Use Registry (MMUR). Once logged into the registry navigate to the YOUR PROFILE SCREEN and scroll to the bottom. Here you will see a record of all cannabis orders entered into your profile by your recommending physician. Orders may roll over to other pages, so if you are an established patient you may need to click through the pages to find your active orders.
Florida requires that medication orders include the type of cannabis medication (low THC or medical cannabis), number of milligrams per dose, number of doses per day, order duration, and delivery method. To locate this information click the “Expand” tab on the desired order. You will see a screen drop down the tabs for each delivery route ordered by your physician. Click through each tab to see the details of the order (image reference below).
Once the physician enters the medication orders into the MMUR the daily dose is multiplied by the number of days of the order to find the total available milligrams.
Use the below image as a reference:
200 milligrams (amount per dose) once per day (dose per day) for 70 days (length of order) equals 14,000 milligrams total. This allows the patient (me) to purchase a maximum of 14,000 milligrams of Medical Cannabis Oral (the selected route in the photo) products from 10/16/18 through 12/25/18.
All medication orders have an expiration date. Any milligrams not used by this time are forfeited. Most physicians schedule all orders at the time of your certification visit so you do not have to contact them in between visits. These act like refills automatically starting when the current order expires. MMTCs often tell patients their orders are due to expire without letting them know there is one scheduled. Always verify your orders in the registry so you know where you stand.
Purchasing Medical Cannabis
Orders for inhalation, oral, and topical delivery routes in both low THC and medical cannabis will allow you to purchase from all of the products available in the Florida market with the exception of rectal suppositories. Date, time, MMTC, MMTC staff name, milligrams dispensed, and relevant delivery information is noted in the MMUR for all purchases. This information can be accessed by MMTCs, recommending physicians, OMMU, and law enforcement.
Understanding what types of medical cannabis you are authorized to purchase and in what amounts can save hassle and headache during dispensary visits. It’s always a good idea to check your orders prior to visiting a dispensary.
What is low-THC? What is Medical Cannabis?
To be sold under a “low-THC” recommendation a product must contain less than 1% THC. Many CBD dominant products contain more THC than this allowed threshold (for example, Surterra Serene 5:1, Trulieve AC/DC, Muv Sour Tsunami) and are instead classified as a “medical cannabis” product. This makes it important to have both low THC and THC on your recommendation. “Medical Cannabis” products contain more than 1% THC and include the vast majority of legal cannabis medicine available in Florida.
How do I know what products are sold under which delivery routes?
Consult with MMTC staff or product description information. Many medical cannabis products are approved for multiple delivery methods giving patients flexibility in how their milligrams are dispensed. For example, Trulieve’s Truclear can be sold under the THC inhalation, sublingual, oral, or topical recommendation categories. Other products like oral capsules or inhalation vaporizer cartridges can only be sold under one category.
Do I have to purchase my entire order?
No, you are not required to purchase your entire milligram limit at one time. Instead, the system works like a bank account with your purchases deducting from your total available balance every time you buy medical cannabis products.
How many milligrams do I have left?
You can track your purchases and milligram totals in the MMUR under the ‘Your Profile’ tab. Locate your active order and click “Expand” to see a drop down with dosage specifics. You will need to tab through each delivery route to find dosage information as it may not be the same for all routes. To find your remaining milligrams scroll to the bottom of the order history. You will see a record of your purchase as well as how many milligrams are remaining until expiration.