State regulations allow potential Medical Cannabis patients to visit with either Qualified Medical Providers (QMPs) or Limited Medical Providers (LMPs) in advance of obtaining their state-issued cards. Repeat visits are necessary whenever a Medical Cannabis Card is up for renewal. From our perspective, visiting with a QMP is the better choice.
Please do not misunderstand our position. LMPs provide valuable services to patients hoping to get a Medical Cannabis Card. We just believe there are certain benefits QMPs offer that LMPs don’t.
The basic difference between a QMP and LMP is state recognition. A QMP has taken the necessary steps to obtain certification from the state. An LMP has not. The implications of this difference explain the benefits that QMPs offer over their LMP counterparts. Let us get to those benefits.
In order to qualify as a QMP, a medical provider needs to undergo a minimum of four hours of continuing education training. Such training is designed to introduce medical providers to the various aspects of recommending Medical Cannabis. Any training program a medical provider intends to utilize must be approved by the state.
Medical Marijuana 411 is one of the approved training programs. It is a six-hour online course covering a variety of topics, including:
The Medical Marijuana 411 program presents its training as being “about medical marijuana based on research and unbiased content.” From our perspective, the research aspect is critical.
Although an LMP may have additional cannabis-related training to rely on, it is not a requirement for them to recommend Medical Cannabis. So there are never any guarantees.
Next, state law makes more Medical Cannabis recommendations available to QMPs. Early on, QMPs were only allowed to recommend to a maximum of six hundred patients. The law has since been changed. We can now recommend cannabis to a total number of patients equal to 1.5% of the current number of card holders in the state. That means more than 1,000 at this point.
On the other hand, LMPs can only recommend Medical Cannabis to a maximum of fifteen patients. Perhaps your GP willingly acts as an LMP for patients in your area. But if they have already reached the 15-patient limit, your GP will not be able to help you. Fortunately, there are enough QMPs across the state to pick up the slack.
When Utah’s Medical Cannabis program first launched, rules designed to prevent card factories were put in place. It quickly became apparent that the restrictions were preventing medical providers from becoming QMPs. The rules were subsequently changed. The rules we now have in place not only limit card factories, but they also encourage QMPs to be more specialized.
An LMP may have rudimentary knowledge of Medical Cannabis and the human endocannabinoid system, but by and large, QMPs possess broader and more specialized knowledge. They have given more attention to the entire Medical Cannabis paradigm because it is something they want to be involved in.
You may have already decided that an LMP is your best bet for obtaining and renewing a Utah Medical Cannabis Card. That’s great. But if you haven’t selected a medical provider or are looking for a new one, we believe a good QMP is a better deal for you.
