Florida Sluggish to Process and Distribute Medical Marijuana Cards

Some medical marijuana patients in Florida are reporting a huge wait to receive their cards. The Office of Medical Marijuana Use says the process takes 30 days for patients to receive their cards. The state needs to hire more employees to process applications and issue cards to reduce wait times.

Not all patients are getting their cards within that 30-day window, according to Sun-Sentinel. Some said they’ve waited two to three months. Patients are also reporting that dealing with the state office is very frustrating.

One patient, Adam McWilliams, said, “I mailed my $75 payment on July 19, received an email stating that my card was on the way September 18, and I still have not received the card.”

A caregiver for her elderly father said his application was submitted on August 15. An email was received on October 5 saying his card was on its way, but it hasn’t arrived yet. Lauren Drake’s father has prostate cancer that has spread.

Drake said, “I thought they had their stuff together.”

Christian Bax, Executive Director of the Office of Medical Marijuana Use, explained that the waiting period is “about a 30-day wait cycle”. Bax says that wait time needs to be scaled back.

Bax said, “We are doing everything we can right now to crank these cards out because we know there are patients in very difficult medical situations, and we do not want to be the bottleneck.”

The state is attempting to outsource the card production portion of the process that may help speed it up. The state is also working on implementing an electronic payment system to accept the $75 state fee. That would also allow for patients to upload their own photos to use on the ID cards.

The new state budget will allow the program to hire 28 more employees. Seventeen more hires need to take place. Eleven new employees were hired within the last week.

Compassionate Cannabis Clinic conducted a small survey to see how long patients are waiting. Of those surveyed, 57 said they waited about 4 to 6 weeks with 54 saying they waited 6 to 8 weeks. Only 12 said they received their cards in less than a month. Forty-seven additional people surveyed did not answer.

Ivan Field, CEO of Marijuana Doctor, said, “IT’s a bare minimum of 30 days. Most of them are waiting up toward 40 or 50 days.”

Hurricane Irma has impacted the wait times.

Kelly Milligan, who works for a medical marijuana product company, said, “It’s definitely taking 60 days, sometimes 90.”

Jamie Hullenbaugh, another medical marijuana patient said, “It is uncalled for to pay $75 to be ignored by the state agency. Then there is the wait, which wouldn’t happen for someone getting their heart medication, but seizures can wait.”

Measures are being taken to speed up the process for patients and make the process more efficient.