Table 1 Qualifying conditions for patients seeking medical cannabis in Massachusetts, Colorado, Maine, Connecticut, and Maryland

Massachusetts (The 191st General Court of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 2020)

Medically legal: 2012 (late adopter)

Recreationally legal: 2016

Debilitating medical conditions: cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other conditions as determined in writing by a qualifying patient’s physician.

Colorado (Colorado - Official State Web Portal 2020)

Medically legal: 2000

(early adopter)

Recreationally legal: 2012

Debilitating medical conditions: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, cachexia, persistent muscle spasms, seizures, severe nausea, and severe (chronic) pain.

Disabling medical conditions: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), autism spectrum disorder, and any condition for which a physician could prescribe an opioid.

Maine (128th Maine Legislature 2020)

Medically legal: 1999

(early adopter)

Recreationally legal: 2016

In the medical provider’s professional opinion, a qualifying patient is likely to receive therapeutic benefit from the medical use of marijuana to treat or alleviate the patient’s debilitating medical condition.

Connecticut (Connecticut State Department of Consumer Protection 2020)

Medically legal: 2012

(late adopter)

Decriminalized: 2011

Adult medical conditions: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, damage to nervous tissue of the spinal cord with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, epilepsy, cachexia, wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell disease, post laminectomy syndrome with chronic radiculopathy, severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ulcerative colitis, complex regional pain syndrome Type 1 and Type II, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, irreversible spinal cord injury with objective neurological indication of intractable spasticity, terminal illness requiring end-of-life care, uncontrolled intractable seizure disorder, spasticity or neuropathic pain associated with fibromyalgia, severe rheumatoid arthritis, post herpetic neuralgia, hydrocephalus with intractable headache, intractable headache syndromes, neuropathic facial pain, muscular dystrophy, osteogenesis imperfecta, chronic neuropathic pain associated with degenerative spinal disorders, interstitial cystitis, MALS Syndrome (median arcuate ligament syndrome), vulvodynia and vulvar burning, intractable neuropathic pain that is unresponsive to standard medical treatments, and Tourette syndrome.

Maryland (Natalie n.d.)

Medically legal: 2014

(late adopter)

Decriminalized: 2014

Cachexia, anorexia, wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe or persistent muscle spasms, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or another chronic medical condition which is severe and for which other treatments have been ineffective.