Can a physician recommend a medical marijuana permit without an in-person exam but instead by telemedicine?

Yes. Before recommending a medical marijuana permit to a patient, a physician is required to establish a “physician/patient” relationship. To establish this relationship, a face-to-face, in person physical exam of the patient is generally required. However, in 2017, Oklahoma law changed to allow face-to-face exams via telemedicine if certain requirements were met, including real-time audio and video communication, a licensed healthcare provider at the location of the patient, and HIPAA-compliant equipment (no Facetime or Skype). In other words, a physician/patient relationship can now be established for a broad range of medical care, including medical marijuana recommendations, via telemedicine.

The telemedicine laws restrict prescribing of certain drugs by telemedicine. Do these restrictions apply to medical marijuana?

No. Since a physician does not “prescribe” medical marijuana but instead “recommends” it, the prescribing restrictions of the telemedicine laws do not apply.