We buy a ton of weed, seriously, a shit ton of weed all the time. With our blog + podcast and desire to test out new products we are always heading to recreational dispensaries and end up giving most of the product away to our friends because we can’t handle how much cannabis we often have on hand. We love that recreational weed is an option here in Colorado, but we wanted to find out if we could get weed for a little bit cheaper by going medical. We don’t have specific illnesses, but figured we could use some of our daily aches and pains and amplify them a little for the cause.

Our Experience Getting Medical Marijuana Cards:

So we went to get out Med cards. We made an appointment online and were able to head into the doctor’s office just a few days later (I am going to leave out the specific offices name, but a quick google search will help you find plenty in the area if you are thinking about it). The office looks exactly like your standard doctor’s office in a building with other medical offices. You head into the waiting room, check-in, and are asked to wait until the doctor is ready for you. The only difference from a standard doctor’s office is that CBD and THC products are being advertised here.

After about 5 mins of waiting you are called into the office. They take you to a small room, check your blood pressure and ask if you would like to get your overall health checked by a weird machine you stand on naked. I did. I got undressed, got scanned and then headed off to the second waiting room. The second waiting room is a little nicer than the first, has coffee and tea as well as cannabis related magazines for you to read while you wait. It was a short wait of maybe 5 mins, and I was being introduced to my doctor.

She had an idea of my symptoms from the form I filled out but immediately started asking me about my symptoms. I will say that I did not lie to get my med card, and neither did Casey Jones. I have extremely dry skin that I *think* could be psoriasis at times. My dry skin patches often flare up during times of extreme stress or anxiety. They can often be extremely itchy and uncomfortable, though I’m not sure I would really consider them extreme pain (which is the state requirement). Casey Jones has a bad shoulder that often does cause him quite a bit of pain, can keep him from sleeping well, and could be considered a form of arthritis though he doesn’t think so.

So while I didn’t lie, she didn’t actually have to see any of my dry patches physically, she just needed me to tell her about them. So in theory, you could totally lie and get away with it. She did examine Casey Jones shoulder, but only enough that he said ouch when she moved it, so again, could, in theory, be lied about. After discussing symptoms, she went on to talk about cannabis cures that could be effective and essentially wrote me a prescription on a sticky note for CBD capsules and THC-A Tincture. When we were done our chat, maybe 10 mins total, I headed to a computer and paid the state fees of about $25. The doctor’s fee was $150. So dishing out about $175 in fees for this card.

But that’s it! I walked out and wondered whether or not that was actually legit and the next day the state of Colorado issues both Casey Jones and me our cards. Boom! If you are considering getting your med card for any variety of reasons, I would suggest taking a look at the Colorado requirements here. While you do need to demonstrate that you have one of these ailments, it is well known in Colorado that just saying you have pain is proof enough for most doctors…

Advantages of Having a Medical Marijuana Card

Tax:

You might be thinking, with recreational marijuana being 100% legal, why would anyone bother to get a med card anyways? For us, it was mainly an experiment to learn about the process. But it was also in hopes of getting a lower price. Is this actually the case? No matter where you go if you have your medical card your tax is way lower. Our budtender said that tax is variable, but often is about an 11% difference, which adds up to quite a bit in the end. There is a longer more in-depth tax overview by Norml here.

Overall Price:

Prices are cheaper overall for more THC, and there are also special deals for members. Essentially medical dispensaries are hoping for patients to sign away their 6 medicinal plants to the dispensary. This means the dispensary can grow more themselves. If you sign a contract, you are unable to grow those plants (you can still grow your 6 recreational plants), but you do get killer deals every day of the week. You can switch your contract every 30 days if you are not happy with the dispensary you chose. So with low tax, lower overall prices, and membership deals, you are looking at a much cheaper way to buy weed at the store.

Higher Potency:

If you are in need or desire for higher potency products a med card is also the way to go. Recreational MJ is capped at 100mgs per product, while recreational has no cap at all in the state of CO. You can pick up products that have 1,000mg of THC in easy to administer doses, like sublingual sprays. You are also able to buy a higher quantity of useable product, with the state of Colorado allowing medical users to purchase up to 2 ounces of cannabis at one time which is double the recreational limit.

Better Dispensary Experience:

This might seem like a silly reason, but heading to medical dispensary cuts out a lot of the “riff-raff” that you find at a recreational store. There are fewer people, shorter lines, and budtenders that care more about your specific needs.

Plant Count:

If you are hoping to grow your own cannabis, you can now legally grow 12 plants a person. If you are hoping to juice or use the plant in its raw form, this can be especially helpful as it requires much more cannabis than if you are drying and smoking.

Disadvantages of Having a Medical Marijuana Card

The only real disadvantage I can see is that the substance is still federally illegal. So technically you may be committing a federal felony by cultivation, possession, and usage of the substance in any form even though you are in complete compliance with the laws of the state where you live. This could mean that you would be theoretically subject to federal prosecution. But I highly doubt that is something you would actually need to worry about.

Are you thinking of getting your Med card in Colorado? Let us know if you have any questions. >>>

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