The Provider Registry is open and the MCA encourages qualified providers to register.
General Information for Providers
In order to be able to issue written certifications for medical cannabis to patients for treatment of a qualifying medical condition, you must register as a “Certifying Provider” with the Maryland Cannabis Administration.
Qualifying medical conditions include cachexia, anorexia, wasting syndrome, severe pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe or persistent muscle spasms, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and chronic pain.
The requirements for issuing a written certification for medical cannabis are:
- A “bona fide provider-patient relationship” with the patient
- The patient’s condition must be severe
- Other medical treatments must have proven ineffective for the patient’s condition, and
- The symptoms must reasonably be expected to be relieved by the use of medical cannabis.
Maryland law defines a “bona fide relationship” as a treatment or counseling relationship between a Provider and patient in which the provider reviews the patient’s relevant medical records, completes an annual in-person or telehealth assessment of the patient’s medical history and current medical condition, creates and maintains medically standardized records, expects to monitor patient program and takes any medically indicated action to follow up.
Once issued, a Provider may amend or revoke a patient’s written certification on any medical grounds or if the patient no longer meets the Provider’s inclusion criteria or the patient now meets the Provider’s exclusion criteria. Examples of exclusion criteria include suspicion on the part of the provider that the patient is abusing cannabis or diverting cannabis to others.
Who is eligible to register as a Provider?
Any physician, physician assistant, podiatrist, dentist, nurse practitioner, or nurse-midwife, with an active, unrestricted license in good standing with the respective Maryland State Board, and actively registered to prescribe controlled substances in Maryland, are eligible to register with the Maryland Cannabis Administration.
