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THIS WEEK, MISSOURI WILL BEGIN ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS. STEVEN: CLINICS PROVIDING A DOCTOR’S CERTIFICATION HAVE SPROUTED UP ACROSS THE STATE. KMBC 9’S WILLIAM JOY EXPLAINS WHAT CLINICS AND REGULATORS WANT YOU TO KNOW. >> ONLY FILL OUT THIS TOP PORTION. >> THE MISSOURI CANNABIS CLINIC IS A MONTH OLD BUT THEY ARE GETTING DOZENS OF CALLS A DAY IN PATIENTS WHO MEDICAL MARIJUANA CERTIFICATIONS. >> THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LIFELONG SUFFERERS. >> DAVID KOCH WAS MOTIVATED TO FOUND THE CLINIC BECAUSE HER PARENTS HAD TO DRIVE HOURS PER CERTIFICATION. >> IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIND A DOCTOR WHO WOULD GO ANYWHERE NEAR IT. NEXT YET BEHIND A DOCTOR TO CERTIFY THAT YOU NEED MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND THEN YOU APPLY TO THE STATE. >> TIMES ARE CHANGING AND THIS IS THE NEXT CYCLE OF CULTURAL SHIFT IN OUR STATE. >> LINDA IS IN CHARGE OF THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA REGULATION. HE SAID IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE A MADE UP DOCTORS NOTE. >> THE INDUSTRY IS LEAVING THIS UP TO THE PROFESSIONAL DOCTORS, THE ONES THAT HAVE THE TRAINING. TO,IT’S THEIR LICENSE ON THE LINE. >> COOK SAYS THEY REQUIRE MEDICAL RECORDS AND ARE AN OPTION WHEN NORMAL PROVIDERS WON’T CERTIFY. >> WE HAD A PATIENT DRIVE ALL THE WAY FROM COLUMBIA BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T FIND A DOCTOR IN THEIR AREA. >> I SUGGEST THEY DO THEIR RESEARCH, IT CAN BE ABUSED OR DONE RIGHT. >> THIS INCLUDES THE $25 CARD FEE. THEY OFFER A DISCOUNT FOR VETERANS WHO CAN’T GET CERTIFIED AT THE VA BECAUSE OF FEDERAL CRIMINALIZATION. THEIR BIGGEST TIP IS TO MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS IN ADVANCE. STEVEN: THOSE WITH PATIENT CARDS LIKELY WON’T BE ABLE TO BUY MEDICAL MARIJUANA UNTIL JANUARY. ACCORDING TO THE SITE, MARIJUANA DOCTORS.COM, THE KANSAS CITY AREA ALONE HAS 8 CLINICS THAT SPECIALIZE IN DOING IT. THERE ARE SIX MORE ACROSS TH

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This week, Missouri will begin accepting applications for medical marijuana patients.Recently, clinics providing doctor certification have sprouted up across the state. Missouri Cannabis Clinic is a month old, but it is getting dozens of calls a day from patients wanting medical marijuana certification."These are people who have been lifelong sufferers of chronic pain or different mental illnesses,” Darby Cook, the clinic’s founder, said. Cook has lived in Missouri for the past couple of years, but previously lived with her family in Michigan, where medical marijuana is legal. She said her parents had to drive a long distance to find any clinic that would certify them. That’s what motivated her to start the clinic in Raytown. "It was really, really difficult to find a doctor who would go anywhere near it,” she said. Getting a patient card is a two-step process. First, a doctor who is licensed as either a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathic medicine has to certify that a patient has one of 10 conditions. Then, that certification is used in a state application along with a $25 fee for a patient ID card. Lyndall Fraker oversees the state's medical marijuana regulation for the Department of Health and Senior Services. "Times they are a-changing, and this is the next cycle of cultural shift in our state,” Fraker said. The final option for doctors to certify patients is "any other chronic, debilitating or other medical condition." Fraker said clinics are not for accepting a made-up doctor's note. "The industry is leaving this up to the professional doctors, the ones that have the training,” he said. "It's their license on the line. Cook said the clinic requires medical records and they’re an option when normal providers won't certify. For instance, veterans can’t be certified through the Veterans Administration since it’s federally criminalized. "We had a patient drive all the way from Columbia because they couldn't find a doctor in their area,” Cook said. According to the site marijuanadoctors.com, the Kansas City area alone has eight clinicsproviding certifications for medical marijuana patients. There are six more across the state.Fraker said the state’s hotline for questions has been blowing up, but he is encouraging people to continue calling. "I would just suggest they do their research,” Fraker said. “It can be abused or it can be done right." Missouri Cannabis Clinic charges about $200 for certification. That includes the state's $25 card fee. The clinic's biggest tip is to get medical records in advance.Those with patient cards likely won't be able to buy medical marijuana until January. The state isn’t providing cultivation or dispensary licenses until the fall and all of the marijuana has to be grown in Missouri.