Healthcare Practitioner Information
Before an allowed healthcare practitioner may authorize the use of marijuana to a qualifying patient, a patient-practitioner relationship must be established. Requirements and restrictions established in RCW 69.51A.030 must be met and practice standards must be followed as with any type of treatment. Healthcare practitioners that want to authorize their patient to use marijuana for medical purposes must complete and sign the Washington State Medical Marijuana Authorization and print on tamper-resistant paper.
NOTICE: All authorizations issued on or after July 1, 2018 are required to be printed on authorization tamper-resistant paper containing the RCW 69.51A.030 logo. Visit the Medical Marijuana Authorization Form website for detailed instructions.
Authorization practice guidelines
The department doesn't promote or discourage the use of medical marijuana authorizations. To ensure that all healthcare practitioners are familiar with the law, we developed the authorization practice guidelines for recommending medical marijuana. In addition, we have created a Medical Marijuana Authorization Form Guidelines (PDF) handout for healthcare practitioners to print out and share with their patients.
Cannabis health and beauty aids
According to RCW 69.50.575, items containing 0.3% THC or less are considered a cannabis health and beauty aid (CHABA). These products are legal for all practitioners to use in their practice. It's not within the scope of practice for practitioners in Washington State to use any products, including topical lotions and oils that contain more than 0.3% THC on their clients – regardless of being medical or recreational and regardless of whether the client provides the product. In applying cannabis oils or lotions as part of therapy, the practitioner would be illegally administering a Schedule I drug.
Database access
The Medical Marijuana Authorization Database laws and rules allow authorizing practitioners and those who prescribe or dispense controlled substances to access patient information in the database.
Non-authorizing healthcare practitioners who are allowed to prescribe controlled substances may access healthcare information on their patients for the purpose of providing medical care for their patients (chapter 69.51A230(b) RCW). In addition, pharmacists may access the database for pharmaceutical care. Controlled substance prescribers must have a valid DOH license and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) number and pharmacists must have only a valid DOH license for this access.
What healthcare practitioners can do in system
Authorizing healthcare practitioners who access the database will see the list of patients they have authorized and the patient’s designated provider, if applicable. The authorizing healthcare practitioner may revoke any authorization and its corresponding card, if necessary. Note: Because the database is voluntary, not all your patients may be in the system.
Non-authorizing practitioners who are allowed to prescribe or dispense controlled substances will have the option to search the database by the patient’s name and date of birth to review the patient’s healthcare information.
Healthcare practitioners may contact us to request our Medical Marijuana 101 for Healthcare Practitioner.
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