RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

 A physician or advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) licensed in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, or Vermont may recommend medical cannabis. Any physician (MD or DO), APRN, or PA can certify their patients for the program using this form;  Written Certification for the Therapeutic Use of Cannabis

Eligible Medical Conditions:

A patient must be diagnosed with a stand-alone medical condition OR a combination of a qualifying diagnosis and a qualifying symptom.

Stand-Alone Medical Conditions:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (age 21 and older)
  • Autism spectrum disorder (under age 21) (requires a consultation with a certified provider of child and/or adolescent psychiatry, developmental pediatrics, or pediatric neurology, who (1) confirms that the autism spectrum disorder has not responded to previously prescribed medication or that other treatment options produced serious side effects and (2) supports certification for the use of therapeutic cannabis)
  • Moderate or severe post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Moderate to severe chronic pain
  • Severe pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects

 Qualifying Diagnoses:

  • Acquired immune deficiency syndrome
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
  • Cancer
  • Chronic pancreatitis
  • Crohn’s disease
  • Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
  • Epilepsy
  • Glaucoma
  • Hepatitis C
  • Lupus
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Muscular dystrophy
  • One or more injuries or conditions that has resulted in one or more qualifying symptoms
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Positive status for human immunodeficiency virus
  • Spinal cord injury or disease
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Ulcerative colitis

  Qualifying Symptoms:

  • Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
  • Cachexia
  • Chemotherapy-induced anorexia
  • Constant or severe nausea
  • Elevated intraocular pressure
  • Moderate to severe insomnia
  • Moderate to severe vomiting
  • Seizures
  • Severe pain that has not responded to previously prescribed medication or surgical measures or for which other treatment options produced serious side effects
  • Severe, persistent muscle spasms
  • Wasting syndrome

For more information see New Hampshire's Department of Health and Human Services website

Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the First Amendment. Established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that found doctors and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options.

More resources for medical professionals can be found here.