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Next year’s recreational cannabis means more restrictions and fees. Get your medical marijuana card in 2018 to avoid these setbacks.
Having a doctor’s recommendation for medical cannabis in 2018 will afford you significant benefits, like access to a larger list of dispensaries and at least 14% savings on your cannabis purchases.It will require a state medical marijuana card.
Now’s an exciting time for marijuana advocates living in California. As the decades-old medical marijuana program continues to provide the highest-quality flowers, concentrates, edibles, and CBD products with minimum hassle, retail reefer stores are about to roll out in 2018.
Will recreational pot shops look like CVS pharmacy superstores? Will the non-medicinal, commercial stuff pack as powerful a punch as the likes of top-shelf medical marijuana strains and vaporizer cartridges? And, more importantly, should I tear up my California medical weed card in 2018 and start looking for recreational marijuana stores?
The short answer? Nope, no, no way!
Here I’ll explain these new cannabis plans and you’ll learn how they’ll affect you, why a medicinal card in 2018 is still your golden ticket, how to easily obtain one, and what to expect when it comes to buying marijuana from legal recreational weed shops coming soon to a strip mall near you.
Recreational Marijuana Shops by Early 2018? I Doubt It!
Every single written account of the Golden State’s expansion into the recreational cannabis market includes the timeframe “until at least January 2018” for implementation. While some optimists interpret that to mean January 2018, the fact is it may take months, or even years, to iron out the details. Here’s why.
In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical marijuana with voter-approved Proposition 215; then in 2015 the Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MCRSA) passed to finally regulate the medical cannabis industry.
Similarly, last year’s Proposition 64 is expected to spell out new regulations for license timelines and categories, cultivators, testing labs, dispensaries, transporters and distributors.
As the first state to adopt medical marijuana and the fifth to legalize recreational use, California must now overlay two new parallel regulatory and licensing systems over its existing MMJ infrastructure. To put it mildly, it’s complicated.
Let’s assume some of the licensed medical marijuana dispensaries open their doors to recreational customers. Simple, right? Not so fast.
Benefits of Having Your MMJ
There are several advantages to getting a medical cannabis card in 2018 and beyond:
Lower Age Limit: Californians 18 or older can legally purchase medical marijuana with a cannabis recommendation or ID card while recreational users must be at least 21 years of age.
Service Continuity: Like any patient who’s happy with his or her health provider, you don’t want to rock the boat. Having your cannabis card in 2018 guarantees you consistent quality cannabis and unchanging prices.
Security: Carrying your weed card on your person ensures your right to consume and carry medical marijuana freely, like an imaginary barrier from law enforcement harassment.
Lower Prices: Recreational pot will be subject to significant sales taxes, costing 14-20% more than medical marijuana.
Convenience: For just $39, NuggMD makes getting your California MMJ evaluation and rec online in minutes hard to resist. No more having to search online for “medical marijuana evaluations nearby.”
No MMJ Limits: Although recreational users will be limited to possessing one ounce of flower or eight grams of cannabis concentrates, MMJ patients can still purchase and carry as much cannabis medication as required for their treatment.
Recreational edibles will be capped at 10mg individual doses, though MMJ edibles will continue to be more potent and offered in varying strengths. Medical cannabis patients can also grow more than the 6 plant limit for recreational users. In fact, you can grow as much as you want in a 100 square foot space, although it’s unclear what will happen to cultivation licenses in California come 2018.
Getting a California Marijuana Card in 2018 Is Easier Than You Think
The bottom line: regardless of Prop 64’s upcoming implementation, you’ll still need a cannabis card if you want unrestricted access to marijuana.
With the January 2018 licensing deadline just around the corner and so many bugs to iron out, you can be sure that the recreational system won’t be in full swing for some time. And if you’ve ever spent most of the day waiting for your number at the DMV, you already know how fast the state government moves.
Be prepared.