RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN RHODE ISLAND

To recommend cannabis to patients in Rhode Island, you must be a licensed physician in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or Connecticut. You must have a bona fide practitioner-patient relationship with the qualifying patient in question and complete a full assessment of the patient's medical history. If you have a patient that you feel qualifies for medical cannabis, you can fill out a certification form on their behalf.

Eligible Medical Conditions include:

  • Cancer or the treatment of this condition
  • Glaucoma or the treatment of this condition
  • Positive status for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or the treatment of this condition
  • Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or the treatment of this condition
  • Hepatitis C or the treatment of this condition
  • A chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition or its treatment that produces one or more of the following:
    • Cachexia or wasting syndrome
    • Severe, debilitating, chronic pain
    • Severe nausea
    • Seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy
    • Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease
    • Agitation related to Alzheimer's Disease

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.