HOW TO FOR NEW MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS:

You MUST be a resident of Washington State. You must provide proof of WA residency; which is defined by the law as a current and valid WA State Drivers License or Picture I. D. There is no fee for membership.

You will need two forms from our web site; Membership & Informed Consent and Documentation of Medical Authorization. PRINT them out. (We cannot register you over the Internet.) Fill out the Membership Form and take it with you to your doctors appointment. Provide your doctor with the Documentation of Medical Authorization to sign.

After your Doctor signs the Authorization form, you keep the original; the doctor puts a copy in your Medical file. Please request that the nurse or office staff FAX a copy of both forms to us together with a FAX cover sheet including the doctor’s name, address, phone & FAX numbers. This is to verify the signature's authenticity. Upon receipt of these forms, you will be called by telephone to make an appointment.

FAX TO: Emerald Cross 

PATIENT INTAKE OFFICE: 206-382-7498

How can one find a "marijuana-friendly" doctor?

Their is no list of "marijuana-friendly" doctors maintained. The protections of the Medical Marijuana Act are meant to be applied to the relationship a patient already has with their current physician. The best place for a patient to start is to have an honest discussion with their own doctor. If that doesn't work try the CannabisMD web site. Resources and reports about MMJ  in Washington State: http://www.CannabisMD.org

Federal laws against marijuana—what a patient should know about their doctor’s legal risk.

After a similar measure passed in California, federal officials reminded physicians that it is illegal to prescribe marijuana. They have threatened California physicians with revocation of their federally issued license to prescribe drugs, cutoff from eligibility for the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and even criminal prosecution. Out of fear, many doctors have become reluctant to discuss medical marijuana at all. However, a lawsuit filed against the federal government by several California physicians and some patients and organizations has succeeded in eliminating most of the risk for physicians who recommend medical marijuana for the time being.

On April 30, 1997, Federal Judge Fern Smith issued a preliminary injunction in the case, Conant vs. McCaffrey, preventing the threatened punishments while the case proceeds to trial. Judge Smith’s injunction has a couple of important qualifiers: 1) The protection from federal penalties applies only to physicians treating patients with cancer, glaucoma, HIV disease, and/or “seizures or muscle spasms associated with a chronic, debilitating condition”’ and 2) The protection has a limit—doctors may not get involved directly in helping a patient to acquire marijuana. Judge Smith defined this limit as “criminal conduct” under federal law, meaning “aiding and abetting or conspiracy” to violate federal drug laws.

Because of the risks a doctor faces if he or she helps a patient obtain marijuana, patients should not ask their doctors to suggest a place or person from whom to obtain marijuana—obtaining it is the sole responsibility of the patient.