How do you get a Minnesota medical cannabis card?
Enrollment takes two steps. First, a participating Minnesota-licensed physician, physician assistant or advanced practice registered nurse certifies your condition online in the Medical Cannabis Registry; veterans can self-certify with a separate form instead. You then get an email with an enrollment link and apply online. The certification expires if your application is not submitted and approved within 90 days, and OCM has up to 30 days to approve or deny it. OCM does not publish a list of participating practitioners.
Before you can participate in the program, you must get your medical condition certified online in the Medical Cannabis Registry by a Minnesota-licensed physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse.
Minn. Stat. 342.52, subd. 2(b), 3, 4(a); 342.01, subd. 32; OCM, How to Become a Medical Cannabis Patient · Last checked
Who qualifies?
To join Minnesota's medical cannabis program you must be a Minnesota resident with a qualifying medical condition certified by a health care practitioner. The law lists 19 conditions: Alzheimer's disease; autism spectrum disorder; cancer with severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or wasting; chronic motor or vocal tic disorder; chronic pain; glaucoma; HIV/AIDS; intractable pain; obstructive sleep apnea; PTSD; Tourette's syndrome; ALS; seizures, including epilepsy; severe and persistent muscle spasms, including MS; inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease; irritable bowel syndrome; obsessive-compulsive disorder; sickle cell disease; and terminal illness with a life expectancy under one year. Any other condition also qualifies if the patient's practitioner has recommended, approved or authorized cannabis to treat it.
"Qualifying medical condition" means either a medical condition for which an individual's health care practitioner has recommended, approved, or authorized the use of cannabis by that individual to treat the condition, or a diagnosis of any of the following conditions…
Minn. Stat. 342.01, subd. 63 · Last checked
Can the certification visit be done by telehealth?
The three-year recertification visit may be done by telehealth. The statute's telehealth clause names only that recertification assessment; it says nothing either way about the first certification visit.
…determine, every three years, if the patient continues to have a qualifying medical condition and, if so, issue the patient a new certification of that diagnosis. The patient assessment conducted under this clause may be conducted via telehealth, as defined in section 62A.673, subdivision 2…
Minn. Stat. 342.55, subd. 2(3); OCM, How to Reenroll in the Medical Cannabis Program · Last checked
Is there a state fee?
Minnesota charges no state fee to enroll in the medical cannabis program. A 2023 law struck the $200 annual enrollment fee ($50 for patients on SSDI, SSI, veterans or railroad disability payments, Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare), and the current registry law, Minn. Stat. 342.52, sets no patient fee.
(a) The commissioner shall collect an enrollment fee of $200 from patients enrolled under this section. If the patient provides evidence of receiving Social Security disability insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), veterans disability, or railroad disability payments, or being enrolled in medical assistance or MinnesotaCare, then the fee shall be $50.
Laws 2023, ch. 63, art. 6, sec. 24 (struck 152.35(a)); Minn. Stat. 342.52 · Last checked
How long does enrollment last, and is there a card?
Enrollment lasts three years; to stay in the program you get recertified and re-enroll, as early as 90 days before it expires. Extensions are not allowed. Minnesota does not issue a medical cannabis card: a patient who needs proof can print a registry verification document from their Registry account.
Enrollment in the registry program is valid for three years.
Minn. Stat. 342.52, subd. 7; OCM, How to Reenroll; OCM, Frequently Asked Questions · Last checked
What a registered patient saves
Medical cannabis sold to a patient enrolled in Minnesota's registry, by a store with a medical retail endorsement, is exempt from both the cannabis tax and sales tax. Visiting out-of-state patients and Tribal medical program patients are not exempt.
Minn. Stat. 295.81, subd. 4(b); MN Department of Revenue, Cannabis Publication · Last checked
At a store with a medical endorsement, a registered patient pays the shelf price on medical products. Everyone else pays the 15% cannabis tax and 6.875% state sales tax on top, plus any local sales tax:
| Shelf price | Not enrolled | Enrolled patient |
|---|---|---|
| $50.00 | $60.94 | $50.00 |
| $100.00 | $121.88 | $100.00 |
| $200.00 | $243.75 | $200.00 |
Minn. Stat. 295.81, subd. 2(a) and (c); Laws 2025, 1st Spec. Sess. ch. 13, art. 3, s. 3 · Last checked
"Not enrolled" excludes local sales tax, which varies by location. Work out a total with a store's local rate.
How buying works for patients
Enrolled patients buy medical cannabis at stores with a medical cannabis retail endorsement. Before the first purchase the patient completes a patient self-evaluation in the Registry and has a consultation with the store's licensed pharmacist or certified medical cannabis consultant; a new consultation is also required when switching to a different method of use, when buying a product at least double the prior dose, or on request, and it can be done by video or phone. Staff confirm enrollment and put a patient-specific label with dosing on each product. A medical-endorsed store may also hand an enrolled patient their order at a designated zone by the front door while the patient stays in the car.
…review and confirm the patient's enrollment in the registry program…
Minn. Stat. 342.51, subd. 2(a), 3, 5; OCM, How to Become a Medical Cannabis Patient; OCM, Frequently Asked Questions · Last checked
Do the possession limits apply to patients?
The adult-use possession limits do not apply to enrolled medical patients carrying product with patient-specific labels.
…do not apply to a person enrolled in the medical cannabis patient registry program under section 342.52 if the person possesses cannabis flower or cannabinoid products that include patient-specific labeling…
Minn. Stat. 342.09, subd. 1(d) · Last checked
What about patients under 21?
You must be 21 or older to buy, possess or use adult-use cannabis or hemp-derived THC products in Minnesota; the exception is medical cannabis patients, who may possess medical cannabis products and use them other than by smoking or vaping. Licensed cannabis stores and hemp retailers must verify the customer's age with accepted ID before each sale.
An individual 21 years of age or older may: (1) use, possess, or transport cannabis paraphernalia…
Minn. Stat. 342.09, subd. 1(a)-(c); 342.27, subd. 2(a), 4(a); 342.46, subd. 3 · Last checked
Caregivers and growing for a patient
A patient can have a registered designated caregiver (18 or older, up to six patients) pick up or give them medical cannabis. A caregiver approved to obtain flower for a patient may grow up to eight plants for that patient's household once the patient assigns them the right to grow; the patient then may not grow their own.
A registered designated caregiver may grow up to eight cannabis plants for the patient household that the registered designated caregiver is approved to assist with obtaining medical cannabis flower.
Minn. Stat. 342.52, subd. 9(b), 9(d) · Last checked
Where patients can buy
53 of the 230 licensed stores in the OCM file dated 2026-09-21 hold a medical retail endorsement; each store page says whether it does. Browse licensed stores.
Program pages: OCM, How to Become a Medical Cannabis Patient.