Caregivers

You may designate a primary caregiver to assist you with cultivating and using medical marijuana. Your primary caregiver must be at least 21 years old and cannot have a felony drug conviction. The Department of Health may allow a person to serve as a primary caregiver if he/she was convicted solely for conduct that is permitted under the Rhode Island medical marijuana provisions (either for an offense that occurred prior to enactment of the medical marijuana provisions or due to prosecution by an authority other than the State of Rhode Island).

A person can be a primary caregiver for no more than five (5) qualifying patients. A patient can only have up to two (2) primary caregivers. A primary caregiver with a registry ID card can possess up to twelve (12) marijuana plants and two and one-half (2.5) ounces of usable marijuana for each qualifying patient they are a primary caregiver for. A primary caregiver cannot have more than twenty-four (24) marijuana plants and five (5) ounces of usable marijuana no matter how many patients he or she is serving. A primary caregiver may receive reimbursement for costs associated with assisting a registered qualifying patient's medical use of marijuana.

Compassion Centers

A compassion center may act as a primary caregiver for qualified patients. The compassion center must be registered with the Department of Health, and is allowed to acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, deliver, transfer, transport, supply, or dispense marijuana, or related supplies and educational materials, to qualifying patients and their primary caregivers who have designated it as one of their primary caregivers.

Compassion centers must be non-profit operations with all principal officers and board members as residents of Rhode Island. None of the principal officers and board members are allowed to have a felony drug conviction. Compassion centers must be more than 500 feet away from the property line of a preexisting public or private school.

Contact Facilities Regulation at [email protected] or call 401-222-2566. 

Applications can be found at the RI Department of Health's website.