“I am a senior and have been coping with Rheumatoid arthritis more and more. I’m wondering if I can get medical cannabis to help with this? I live in Illinois.”
Lois K.
You most likely can. Under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act, which was put in place by Illinois in 2013, there is a list of “debilitating conditions” that will probably qualify you for a medical weed card. These include:
- Autism
- Agitation of Alzheimer’s disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Anorexia nervosa
- Arnold-Chiari malformation
- Cancer
- Cachexia/wasting syndrome
- Causalgia
- Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy
- Chronic pain
- Crohn’s disease
- CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome Type II)
- Dystonia
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
- Fibrous Dysplasia
- Glaucoma
- Hepatitis C
- Hydrocephalus
- Hydromyelia
- Interstitial cystitis
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Lupus
- Migraines
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Myasthenia Gravis
- Myoclonus
- Nail-patella syndrome
- Neuro-Bechet’s autoimmune disease
- Neurofibromatosis
- Neuropathy
- Osteoarthritis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Polycystic kidney disease (PKD)
- Post-Concussion Syndrome
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Residual limb pain
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Seizures (including those characteristic of Epilepsy)
- Severe fibromyalgia
- Sjogren’s syndrome
- Spinal cord disease (including but not limited to arachnoiditis)
- Spinal cord injury is damage to the nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity
- Spinocerebellar ataxia
- Superior canal dehiscence syndrome
- Syringomyelia
- Tarlov cysts
- Tourette syndrome
- Traumatic brain injury
- Ulcerative colitis
In order to get a medical cannabis card, you have to receive a certification from a healthcare practitioner, such as a physician or registered nurse, indicating that you have one of these conditions that might be helped by medical marijuana.
Providing this consultation is with a qualified healthcare practitioner is the forte of HelloMD. We have been helping patients understand and access the benefit of medical cannabis since 2015, throughout the United States and Canada. We have been rated #1 on Trustpilot. Our Customer Service team is always with you through every step of the process, making sure you can obtain the cannabis products you need to help with your health condition.
Yvonne W.
It’s worth noting that the list of qualifications to obtain your medical card in Illinois is a work in process. In 2019, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB 2023, which updated the list of conditions, and, as well, made the state’s medical cannabis program permanent (it was set to expire in July 2020).
The 11 new qualifying conditions for medical weed patients were: autism, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, osteoarthritis, anorexia nervosa, Ehler-Danlos Syndrome, Neuro-Behcet’s Autoimmune Disease, neuropathy, polycystic kidney disease, and superior canal dehiscence syndrome.
By keeping the medical marijuana program separate from adult-use cannabis laws, the state government sought to ensure that it wouldn’t be affected by any changes to the regulations governing recreational cannabis, such as a repeal of the act.
Janet K.
You won’t be alone in using medical weed for your arthritis. A survey conducted by Verilife—which runs a series of dispensaries in Illinois selling medical and recreational marijuana—reveals that people in your age group are much more likely than millennials to use cannabis for health conditions, such as arthritis, chronic pain, and cancer. Millennials are more prone to consuming weed for recreational purposes.
There’s some research done showing that cannabis can help with the pain, inflammation, and damage done by arthritis. And it can provide a safer alternative to opioids with their addiction issues.
So it makes a lot of sense for Illinois residents to get a medical marijuana card, and explore the health benefits of cannabis.
Chuck Ng
