Telemedicine is a modern-day solution to healthcare problems for those in rural parts of the world, and now cannabis telemedicine also exists. Folks in Montana now have access to a platform called NuggMD that connects state licensed medical marijuana doctors to patients virtually.
NuggMD, an already-established medical cannabis telemedicine platform, is launching its service in Montana. People who wish to be patients simply have to cough up the barrier of entry of $129 to be able to use the service. The platform is already being used by doctors and patients in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
Despite its rural population, Montana is doing well when it comes to legal cannabis. They made record sales in June of over $17.2 million spent on recreational pot and over $7 million spent on medical cannabis, totaling almost $25 million in cannabis sales just for the month. The total for the year so far is $148 million. The highest cannabis sales are in Yellowstone County, which hit $4.1 million in June, 32% of those being recreational. On opening weekend of legal cannabis sales in the state, the total was already at $1.5 million.
“Yellowstone’s success makes it obvious that cannabis has been a huge boon for the tourist industry in Montana,” says Alex Milligan, CMO and co-founder of NuggMD. “But the medical market is still running strong in the state because the program provides powerful advantages for Montana patients.”
In Montana, medical patients can purchase the same amount of cannabis as recreational users, but there are still some perks. They can purchase more potent cannabis and save 16% on their sales taxes. They can also grow twice as many plants and, like in many other legal and medical states, go to special, medical-only dispensaries, which is a major bonus for those who don’t live close to a bigger town or city with lots of recreational spots.
“It’s easy to see why so many Montanans still carry medical marijuana cards, despite recreational legalization,” says Collin Mann, CEO and NuggMD co-founder. “We’re excited to join the cannabis community in Montana and provide them with the best service in the state.”
Those who want to utilize the NuggMD platform can log in seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time. No appointment is necessary, and those who don’t end up qualifying for a medical cannabis card are not charged for their meeting with doctors.
In addition to taking medical patients seriously, the state is also working on overturning past convictions in order to heal the harms done by the War on Drugs. As such, the state has been doing the work to clear those charges and provide resources to those who are struggling. An expungement ruling passed by the state’s Supreme Court claims “anyone convicted of an offense that would now be legal in the state can petition to have their conviction removed from their record, get a lesser sentence for it or reclassify it to a lesser offense.”
“From the start, I’ve been clear that we need to bring more resources to bear to combat the drug epidemic that’s devastating our communities,” Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte says regarding bringing legal cannabis to the state. “Funding a full continuum of substance abuse prevention and treatment programs for communities, the HEART Fund will offer new support to Montanans who want to get clean, sober and healthy.”
As more cannabis resources continue to make their way to Montana, the already booming legal and recreational cannabis industries will keep surviving and thriving, paving the way for even more revenue and patient access.
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Can I get a card if it’s not legal yet in KENTUCKY I want to hit the ground running when it is we got Reps. that do not Rep. the Most of the people!!!!!!!!!
Lee, you ain’t kidding. My jaw dropped when I realized the state Senate was really going to block legalization in Kentucky again despite overwhelming poll numbers in favor of MMJ legalization. It’s just unreal, their obstinacy.
I guarantee you, should the law allow it, NuggMD will be excited to extend their services to Kentucky when they finally come to the light 🙂 You can sign up for the waiting list on our Kentucky page and we’ll loop you in on the latest legalization news too!
Of course, we only offer telemedicine evaluations in states where it’s allowed. Some states’ laws don’t allow initial evaluations via telemedicine or any evaluations at all via telemedicine. This is a pretty backward policy. Even once COVID is no longer a concern, many MMJ patients have a need to minimize exposure to illness. Cancer patients and AIDS patients in particular qualify for cannabis in nearly every legal MMJ state, but many states make these patients risk exposure due to outdated or misguided opinions about how patient care should proceed. We need to acknowledge advancements in technology and use the advantages we have now to protect our most vulnerable patients whenever we can. Misguided legislators cause so much trouble when they attempt to practice medicine via their legislative decree. It should be up to the physician whether a patient should be seen in person or online.
Qualifying conditions should be up to the physician as well. How is it that legislators are allowed to be the arbiters of a patient’s fate just because they don’t have the right kind of illness? Why should a patient in Texas be allowed to use cannabis for a host of named incurable neurological conditions, but not for trigeminal neuralgia (called the suicide headache), or cluster headaches? Both incurable neurological conditions are literally among the most painful conditions known to man.
Should a legislator be making that decision, or a doctor?
Should legislators be allowed to dictate that ingestion is the only acceptable method of treatment, not inhalation or vaporization, which is the fastest treatment method? Many patients don’t tolerate ingestion well. Others can’t afford to wait 30 to 90 minutes for their pain or nausea to abate. By then, the damage is done. Not to mention that ingestion is hard to titrate, and gives people a much more intense high, which many patients don’t want.
States have come a long way by finally admitting that cannabis has medical value. Now they need to let doctors do what is right for their patients.
We have a long way to go and we’re with you 100% of the way.
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