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CLAYTON, Mo. – One of our area’s first medical marijuana clinics is opening next month in Clayton, across from the Galleria. At present, they are already booked solid with patients for June. Canna Therapy MD will open on June 18.

The two women who are opening the clinic are currently ER doctors in Colorado. They became trained in medical cannabis after seeing what highly addictive opiates were doing their patients. They witnessed overdoses and saw young people dying from the medication.

Both doctors feel medical cannabis can help get people off many if not all of their pain medications.

They cite a study that says in states where medical marijuana is legal, there is about a 25 percent decrease in mortality for opiate overdoses.

The process for legally purchasing medical marijuana starts by getting an evaluation from a state licensed physician. If the doctor determines you qualify by having one of the conditions approved by the state of Missouri, you send the doctor’s recommendation letter to the Missouri Department of Health.

You must apply for your medical ID card within 30 days of the recommendation. You can apply to the state on July 4. If you are approved, you will get a card and be able to purchase marijuana from a dispensary after January.

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