Registration for Medical Marijuana

A frequently asked question I receive is does a person have to register with the county to lawfully use medical marijuana?

A person can get a physician's recommendation without registering with the county. The Physician's Recommendation has all the protections of getting a county-issued medical marijuana card, except for one. The one is that the police are not suppose to arrest a patient that produces a county-authorized card.

The California Law that covers it is health and safety code section 11362.71(e) and it states:

(e) No person or designated primary caregiver in possession of a valid identification card shall be subject to arrest for possession, transportation, delivery, or cultivation of medical marijuana in an amount established pursuant to this article, unless there is reasonable cause to believe that the information contained in the card is false or falsified, the card has been obtained by means of fraud, or the person is otherwise in violation of the provisions of this article.

Health and Safety code 11362.71 (f) states:

It shall not be necessary for a person to obtain an identification card in order to claim the protections of Section 11362.5.