Do I qualify?

Qualifying Conditions

EXPANDED MEDICAL CONDITIONS: New York now allows practitioners to certify patients for medical cannabis treatment at their discretion. There is no longer a requirement to have a specific qualifying medical condition to join New York’s medical marijuana program.
Some conditions, but not limited to include:

• Chronic Pain

• Anxiety

• Insomnia

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Neuropathy

• Spinal Cord Injury with Spasticity

• Epilepsy

• Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Cancer

• HIV or AIDS

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

• Parkinson's disease

• Multiple Sclerosis

• Huntington's Disease

• Any condition for which an opioid could be prescribed

  In addition, a qualified patient must have at one of the following complicating conditions:

  • Severe or chronic pain

  • Seizures

  • Cachexia or wasting syndrome

  • Severe or persistent muscle spasms

  • PTSD

  • Severe nausea

  • Opioid use disorder

More Information

How to Become a Medical Marijuana Patient in New York

Becoming a registered New York medical marijuana patient is easy. It just takes a few simple steps. First, you'll need to create an account with us, then chat with your practitioner. Once they approve you and you've received your certification via email, you'll sign up with the New York State Department of Health at https://my.ny.gov/.

‍After you're approved by the state, you'll get a link to print out a temporary certification. You can use it to purchase legal medical marijuana from dispensaries right away. It's good for up to 30 days so your permanent card has plenty of time to arrive in the mail. You should get your permanent card in about 1-2 weeks.

How to Become a Patient Caregiver in NY

A registered patient can designate one or two caregivers in New York. These caregivers can help their patients purchase and take medical cannabis. The designated caregiver must be 21 or over, and must be a New York resident. The caregiver also can't be the patient's physician.
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The caregiver must wait till the patient's application is approved because they will need to use the patient's approval papers to finish the process. They must also receive their approval before they can begin their caregiving duties. The application fee is $50, but the state is currently waiving application fees.

How to Renew A NY Registry ID

When it's time to renew your registry ID, you'll receive a notification that you're due for a renewal evaluation. You should start the process well before your certification is due to expire so you don't have a lapse in coverage, since renewal is not an instant process.

Your renewal will most likely need to take place one year after your certification, but there are rare cases where a patient is certified for a shorter time. Be sure to check your certification for the expiration date when you get it and mark it on your calendar.

If you have a caregiver, they won't be able to re-certify until you do, so you should set your appointment for about three weeks before you're due to expire just to give everyone time enough to get properly processed through the system again.

The good news is that the recertification process on the state's website is very easy. You'll only need to enter your new registration number, answer a few yes/no questions, and wait for your approval.