Getting your Medical Marijuana card in Oklahoma

Oklahomans made history on June 26, 2018, when 57% of voters passed State Question 788, legalizing medical marijuana. Just one month later, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) began accepting applications from Oklahoma residents to obtain their patient license, or medical card. As of the end of December 2018, OMMA has approved medical cards for more than 26,000 adults.

Getting your Oklahoma medical card is easy, as long as you have a full understanding of the application process and comply with some very specific requirements in uploading your application.

No Qualifying Conditions

Oklahoma’s medical marijuana law doesn’t have any qualifying conditions that must be met in order to get your card. Marijuana use has been beneficial to people with a wide variety of conditions including PTSD, glaucoma, chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, depression, arthritis, epilepsy, ADD/ADHD, and for palliative care. Chances are, you deal with a condition that marijuana is known to help or heal.

Talking With a Doctor

Because there are no qualifying conditions to get your medical card you decide what you’ll share with the doctor. When you arrive for your appointment the first thing you’ll be asked to do is fill out your medical history paperwork. Be sure to take a list of your medications with you. (The doctor will have access to your prescription medicine database so list ALL of your meds).

Be honest with your doctor about why you believe medical marijuana will be beneficial for you. You’ll probably even discuss how prior marijuana use has helped you. As long as you demonstrate a need for a true medical use (as opposed to recreational use), the doctor will sign your Physician Recommendation form, which can be downloaded at http://omma.ok.gov/adult-patient-application-information2 and then click on Adult Patient Recommendation Form.

Finding your Doctor

The doctor you see to get your medical card will probably not be the doctor you currently see, especially if that doctor belongs to a large medical group or federal agency such as the VA. Not every doctor in Oklahoma is willing to recommend marijuana to their patients. You can find a list of doctors registered with OMMA at http://omma.ok.gov/guidance-for-physicians and then click on Registered Physicians List.

Be sure to call more than one doctor as the fee can range from $99 to $250. Most doctors charge $80 if you’re a veteran. Many clinics are booked at least four weeks in the future so you can expect a wait to see a doctor. Some clinics have walk-in opportunities so you can be seen by a doctor right away if you can find a patient drive.

Finding a Patient Drive

Many medical marijuana dispensaries conduct patient drives in their place of business. The doctor sees you in an office at a dispensary, and many clinics will even help you upload all of your paperwork to OMMA for an additional fee. Facebook is the best platform to find a patient drive near you. Facebook makes it difficult to search for patient drives so the best action you can take is to join or like several dispensary and clinic pages. Once you join several groups you’ll start seeing patient drive announcements. You might even come across a patient drive that includes the doctor visit and uploading your application at no charge to you. Otherwise, you can expect to pay as little as $103 or as much as $354 to get your medical card.

The Application Documents

Once you have your Physician Recommendation form signed by a doctor, it’s time to get all of your documents ready to upload. The documents include your recommendation form, and photographs of your driver’s license or state ID card, and your Medicare, Medicaid, or SoonerCare card, if you qualify.

When taking photographs of documents make sure each document’s four corners are visible.

In your application you must prove that you’re a resident of Oklahoma and you must prove your identity. If you don’t have a driver’s license or state ID, you may upload a photograph of a voter ID card, a current utility bill, a residential property deed, or a current rental or lease agreement. To prove your identity you must upload your driver’s license or state ID, or your U. S. passport or Tribal ID card.

You must also upload your recommendation form. You can digitize the form either as a .PDF or .JPG. It’s important that you submit your application within 30 calendar days from the date the doctor signed your recommendation. If you wait beyond the 30 days you’ll have to visit and pay for another doctor visit.

Finally, you must upload a headshot photograph showing the top of your shoulders to the top of your head. The background for your headshot must be either plain white or off-white. You may not wear any type of headgear or glasses. You’re not allowed to smile either, so just look straight ahead with a neutral facial expression. You need to have the ability to crop your photo so the image is at least 600 X 600 pixels, but no bigger than 1200 X 1200 pixels.

If you don’t have the ability to re-size and crop photos, it’s easy to go to Walgreens or CVS to purchase a digital passport photo (about $12).

The Application Process

When you have all of the documents ready to upload go to http://omma.ok.gov/apply-nowand click Continue. The first step is to create an account with OMMA. You’ll enter and submit your basic information. You won’t be able to make any changes to your personal information once submitted so it’s very important that you check and double check for accuracy and completeness. OMMA will then send you an email that you’ll open and click to verify your account.

You’ll return to the OMMA application website to enter all of the information contained on your recommendation form including any medical condition(s) listed, the doctor name, address, phone number, medical license and NPI numbers as well as the doctor’s qualifying medical board certification. You’ll also enter your driver’s license number, your address, and phone number.

The first document to be uploaded is the .PDF or .JPG version of your recommendation form.

The next step is to upload the documents you’re using to establish your Oklahoma residency and your identity. You’ll upload photos of the front and back of your driver’s license (or other acceptable document if you don’t have a driver’s license) two separate times—once to establish your residency and again to establish your identity.

If you’re on Medicare, Medicaid, or SoonerCare, you’ll also upload photos of the front and back of your qualifying card.

The last document to be uploaded is your headshot photo.

After you’ve submitted all of the documents you’ll have an opportunity to review your application for completeness. On the review page, you’ll see a red X next to any document that is missing or doesn’t meet OMMA’s requirements. Make changes to your uploaded documents until all of the red Xs are gone.

The final step is to enter your payment information. You must have a debit or credit card in order to complete your application. The application fee for an adult medical marijuana card is $100 plus a $4.30 service fee. If you’re on Medicare, Medicaid, or SoonerCare, the application fee is $20 plus a $2.40 service fee.

The Approval Process

If your application was completed accurately, and your documents were submitted in the proper format, you can expect to receive an approval email from OMMA about 12 calendar days from the date you submitted your application.

However, if your application was incomplete, or your documents did not comply with formatting requirements, you’ll receive an email from OMMA denying your application until you have submitted corrected information or documents.

One of the most common reasons OMMA denies an application is because the headshot photo didn’t comply with their requirements. Another reason people have been denied is because a photo of a driver’s license or other document did not show all four corners.

Make all of the changes specified by OMMA so you can re-submit the document(s). You will NOT have to pay an additional application fee when you submit corrected documents. You can expect to wait an additional seven calendar days to receive your approval email from OMMA.

Your Card’s Arrival

You’ll receive an approval letter and your Oklahoma medical marijuana card in three to four business days from the date of your approval email. The letter and card arrive in a plain white envelope and is valid for two years. With your card in hand, it’s now time to make your first medical marijuana dispensary.

Have you recently gotten your card? Still waiting? Need a recommended physician? Let us know in the comments or reach out to The Flame for help with any of your questions at theflamedispensary@gmail.com!