Do you have a valid driver’s license? If so, you can legally drive in any state in the union. You can also drive in most U.S. territories. Reciprocity with driver’s licenses is fairly routine. So why don’t the states practice reciprocity with medical cannabis cards? It is a complicated question with equally complicated answers.
State reciprocity is not limited to just driver’s licenses. For example, many states recognize one another’s pistol permits. States recognize insurance policies issued in different states even though carriers are not licensed to operate everywhere. When it comes to medical cannabis cards however, there are some pretty big issues to consider.
Effectively a License
The reciprocity question is a legitimate one given that a medical cannabis card is effectively a license to use cannabis as a medicine. Patients need such licenses because doctors cannot legally prescribe cannabis like they would an antibiotic or sleeping medication. States need some way to give approval for medical cannabis in the absence of a prescription. The medical cannabis card fits the bill.
A medical marijuana Utah card gives a Salt Lake City patient legal authority to walk into the Beehive Farmacy Utah dispensary location and purchase cannabis vaping liquids. Without a valid medical cannabis card, a person could not even get in the door.
States Do Things Differently
As for why states do not practice reciprocity in this particular area, the first of many reasons is the fact that states do things differently. In Utah, a doctor’s medical cannabis recommendation is just that. State law encourages medical providers and pharmacists to work together to advise patients. But patients ultimately decide for themselves how frequently they will medicate, the products they will use, and so forth.
Things are different in Florida. In the Sunshine State, medical providers write official recommendations that are eerily similar to prescriptions. They determine dosage, delivery method, frequency, etc. Medical providers and pharmacists can still work together to determine what is best for each patient, but the patient is expected to abide by his provider’s recommendations.
The Federal Problem
The fact that states do things differently is just one consideration. States also recognize the fact that giving the green light to medical cannabis creates a problem with federal law. In essence, states are thumbing their collective noses at Washington when they decriminalize cannabis in any form. And by the way, decriminalization is exactly what they are doing. States cannot legalize what federal law says is illegal.
Because the states are in violation of federal law, they do not want to take any chances of agitating federal law enforcement. The safest way to keep Washington off their backs is to confine everything they do with medical cannabis within their own borders. Not practicing reciprocity is part of that.
Keeping Access Inside State Lines
One of the components of keeping things within their own borders is to also keep access inside state lines. For example, all medical marijuana in Utah, consumed in the state, must be purchased in the state. Can you imagine what would happen if Utah practiced reciprocity with Arizona? Patients would start bringing medical cannabis over the border.
They might already do so. But if that is the case, they are doing so illegally. The state does not sanction interstate transport; in fact, they expressly forbid it. Utah is protecting itself as best it can by making it clear that neither residents nor visitors can bring cannabis into Utah from elsewhere.
Reciprocity will remain fleeting as long as cannabis is illegal under federal law. Therefore, a medical cannabis card is only good in the state in which it is issued.
