Medical Marijuana Card Renewals

It’s already been about a year since I saw my first round of patients for their Medical Marijuana Cards. WOW! I have had many patients reaching out and I was under the impression that cards were renewed 30 days before expiration. But I was wrong. I contacted DHSS and this is the response:

Provisions for the regulation of medical marijuana are within Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution and the rules in 19 CSR 30-95. You can find Article XIV, complete rules, answers to frequently asked questions, and other information regarding the Medical Marijuana Program by visiting our website at https://medicalmarijuana.mo.gov.

Licensees will be sent notices 60, 45, 30 and 15 days prior to the license expiration. These notices will be sent from the registry system to the email address in the application. The window for submitting a patient or caregiver renewal is 60 days prior to, and no less than 30 days before, the expiration date.  The system will not prohibit the submission of a renewal after the 30 day window however the department has 30 days from submission to process an application therefore we cannot guarantee a renewal that is received in this time frame will be processed prior to expiration.

A new physician certification form and updated proof of Missouri residency will be required for renewal of a patient license. A new patient authorization form will be required for renewal of a caregiver license. Approval steps are the same as in the initial application process with the exception of reviewing government id and photo, which will be carried over from the initial application submission. Application fees for patient and caregiver renewals are $25 per application. There is an additional $100 cultivation application fee if cultivation is added to the application.

Bottom line: you have a window of 60 days to 30 days before your medical marijuana card expires to get a renewal. Dispensaries are still not open yet, so it makes it extra important if you are cultivating medical marijuana at home to not have your license lapse. (Speaking of medical marijuana dispensaries, I am hearing that these are now going to be pushing back until September 2020. Anyone hear differently, let me know!)

Let’s go through an example scenario:

If your medical marijuana card expires on July 8, 2020. Then, the soonest you can come in to get your card renewed is May 8, 2020. Let’s say you don’t get around to it until June 8th, you are still good. So you have from May 8th to June 8th to get your medical marijuana card renewed. The State says they can take up to 30 days to turn-around and get an answer to you. So let’s say you were putting it off and got it done on June 8th. Then you had some stuff come up and actually got to filing on June 18th. The State has from June 18 to July 18 to respond. That means that if your medical marijuana card will expire on July 8, you will be without a card from July 8 to July 18. So that’s 10 days that you are technically not allowed to go to a dispensary. I don’t know if they will crack down on this as much, since dispensaries are not open quite yet, but it’s something to think about.

A few more things to note. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I have moved, like many doctor’s offices, to having online visits. At this point, I have not converted appointments to virtual, so please go to Square and change this at your convenience.

If you come in person, the benefit is having the 20% cash discount. Cost for a medical marijuana card renewal is $100 or $80 cash for a 15 minute visit with me. If you would like me to help you file, it will be double the cost, since it takes me 15 minutes to help you file!

Additionally, I have moved since October 2019, so my appointments may not reflect the new address. Please note that my new office is at 10807 Big Bend, Suite 1, Kirkwood, MO 63122. If you happen, go to the wrong address, I am only a block away.