2021 Medical Marijuana Laws: What’s New with Marijuana
What's up with medical marijuana this year?
It partially depends where you live, but there's lots of exciting news around the United States that medical marijuana is becoming a more accepted part of our national health system, and largely decriminalized in many U.S. states. These changes have led to the much more widespread cultivation of marijuana, hemp and CBD strains, and processing of natural products for consumer markets, including medical marijuana.
Medical Marijuana Status by State
What you see when you look at a map of the 50 states is that different states are in different places when it comes to medical marijuana. In some states, marijuana has been decriminalized, but not approved for medical use. In other states, there are specific protocols for accessing medical marijuana, or in some cases, recreational marijuana. The U.S. FDA has approved a cannabis product for epilepsy, but state laws still differ.
What many of these laws have in common is that they are relatively new. It wasn't too many years ago that marijuana was illegal all over the country. Washington and Colorado were two prominent early adopters of more lenient rules, but now there's a sea change toward more acceptance and regulation of this natural plant. That’s broadening the markets for natural cannabis applications in various types of wellness businesses, including, for example, chiropractic and herbalism.
Testing
Along with more legal acceptance of medical marijuana, there's more testing being done of marijuana products and strains. You may see a state’s testing facilities increase, and more of a simplified process around testing various kinds of marijuana and cannabis to make sure that they are pure. Farmers will also start to put more stable practices in place to get the natural crop to market, with state processing being a significant bottleneck in many cases.
Medical Marijuana and Cardholder Services
In many states that are in the middle of the medical marijuana spectrum, dispensary services work on a card basis. Someone who's been approved for medical marijuana as a cardholder can seek out marijuana dispensaries and access their wares using their card. Medical marijuana is widely used for conditions like:
- Glaucoma
- Anxiety
- Appetite problems
- Chronic pain
All of these conditions can respond to medical marijuana, which is one reason why it is being more widely accepted in the medical community. Check out our excellent catalog of natural CBD products! We use the principle of ecommerce to get involved in this exciting field.