How to Get a Medical Card for Crohn’s Disease in Your State

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

In Which States Can You Get a Medical Card for Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease can not only be uncomfortable but impact so many areas of your life: your relationship with food, dreading digestion and worrying about the bathroom. Could cannabis be the answer? Can you get medical mrijuana for Crohn’s disease?

Medical marijuana is helping give people hope for managing pain and symptoms of chronic conditions. While not quite a panacea, many scientists are discovering the full power of the various compounds in cannabis. So can you find cannabis in your area for your Crohn’s?

The process is fairly straightforward. Many states have approved medical marijuana for certain conditions. Before we find if cannabis is available in your state let’s just explore the benefits of cannabis for Crohn’s.

 

What are the Benefits of Medical Marijuana for Crohn’s Disease?

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel disease where your body’s immune system mistakenly begins attacking part of your GI tract. This inflammation can lead to abdominal pain, regular diarrhea, loss of appetite/weight loss, anemia, and fatigue.

For patients struggling with nausea or a loss of appetite, cannabis can help. By now, the munchies are infamous as a part of cannabis use. Cannabis is also equally famous for helping chemo patients struggling with nausea.

Much of how cannabis works is by the cannabinoids in it that dial up or down certain body functions via the endocannabinoid system. This can help Crohn’s patients struggling with being turned off by food.

Another role of the endocannabinoid system, specifically, our CB2 receptors is managing inflammation. Cannabis is full of antiinflammatories like the cannabinoid CBD and terpenes like linalool and limonene. These compounds can help reduce the inflammation caused by Crohn’s and impact the body’s underlying immune response that causes the disease.

Many of these compounds can also help with pain and discomfort management. Additionally, the high of THC and some of the uplifting compounds in cannabis can help with managing some of the pitfalls of having Crohn’s. This can help with mood elevation and some strains of cannabis can help with sleep.

The jury is still out on cannabis as a treatment for Crohn’s or irritable bowel disease (IBD) but it can help reduce the reliance on prescriptions like pain meds, “corticosteroids, immunomodulators, and biologic agents, [that] carry risks for long-term side effects such as malignancy and infection.”

One study found that while cannabis can improve the pain and diarrhea symptoms, cannabis users who used it for more than 6 months had a higher risk of requiring surgery. It’s important to seek out your doctor’s opinion about your IBS/Crohn’s and how cannabis can help. So where can you get your medical marijuana card for Crohn’s?

Where Can You Get a Medical Card for Crohn’s Disease?

Luckily, there has been adequate study about Crohn’s that has led many states to approve it for medical marijuana use. This means that the state’s law has deemed Crohn’s a qualifying condition allowing for you to obtain a medical marijuana card or recommendation as part of your treatment.

States where you can get a medical marijuana card specifically for Crohn’s include:

• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York (as IBD)
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Puerto Rico
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Vermont
• Washington
• West Virginia

States where you may be able to get your card based on the doctor’s discretion or a related condition include:

• California
• Colorado (As a condition you may be prescribed an opioid/chronic pain)
• Delaware
• Maryland (As a chronic condition)
• Nevada (Potentially for nausea or pain)
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Virginia
• Washington D.C. specifically

States where you qualify for Low THC cannabis products based on a Crohn’s diagnosis include:

• Georgia
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Tennessee

Now if you cannot get cannabis based on your Crohn’s diagnosis there is still hope. There are options. For example, currently CBD is legal nationwide. This may be a great first step to see if cannabis-based products can help manage your symptoms or make you feel better.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

How to Get a Medical Card for Crohn’s Disease in Your State

If you can’t immediately get medical marijuana for Crohn’s disease do not worry. Your doctor may be able to prescribe you for a similar condition or a different diagnosis you may be facing which can help get you access.

Additionally, built into medical marijuana law is the potential for states to add new qualifying conditions. Studies into the applications of medical marjuana are happening regularly as more of the phytochemicals (plant chemicals) in cannabis are proving to have countless health benefits.

You can work with your local government to find approval for that condition or submit research. The more aware you are of how cannabis law works the more you can help not only your condition but other people who may benefit from this treatment.

Additionally, besides CBD there are also cannabis alternatives like delta-8 or delta-10 that may offer you some benefits.

Final Thoughts

Crohn’s disease can negatively impact your life in so many ways why not try combating them with the natural remedy of cannabis. Not only can some of the compounds in it help with managing your symptoms, pain and discomfort, you can also boost your mood, help your sleep, and even the high might help.

If you’re struggling with Crohn’s disease let the doctors at Green Health Docs help you find access to medical marijuana in your area.