Since its inception the Medical marijuana law has offered many questions for all sides involved. One of those sides offering up some controversy in each legal state being caregivers of patients and standards of care. Since we are talking a technical and important undertaking of providing medicine it is prudent to have a guideline of standards for someone becoming a caregiver.

Here are some guidelines patients should look for in a caregiver.

1) Caregivers agree to follow all applicable state and local laws, regulations and ordinances;

• Each caregiver can only assist five patients with their medical use of marijuana.
• A caregiver must be at least 21 years old and have never been convicted of a felony involving illegal drugs.
• A caregiver must be designated by a qualified patient on her or his registry identification card application. If the qualified patient expects that you will cultivate on his or her behalf, then the qualified patient must also specify in that application that you can possess marijuana plants. Remember: as a caregiver, you are cultivating on behalf of the qualifying patient, and you should think of yourself as caring for plants that belong to that patient, as opposed to caring for your own plants.
• A caregiver who is cultivating on behalf of a qualifying patient must do so only in an enclosed, locked facility.
• A caregiver may receive compensation for costs associated with assisting a qualifying patient in the medical use of marihuana and that compensation shall not constitute the sale of controlled substances. That compensation shall be reasonable. Whenever possible, a qualified patient and caregiver should agree on compensation for costs at the beginning of the relationship to avoid disputes and misunderstandings in the future.
• Collectively, the caregiver and the qualifying patient should only possess a quantity of marihuana that is not more than is reasonably necessary to ensure the uninterrupted availability of marihuana for the purpose of treating or alleviating the patient’s serious or debilitating medical condition or symptoms of the patient’s serious or debilitating medical condition.
• Caregivers are not allowed to use the patient’s medical marijuana for their own use, and there is a severe additional penalty for any diversion of medical marijuana to non-patients.

2) Caregivers pledge to put the well-being of patients and the public good foremost.

3) Caregivers will always give honest measure or weight.

4) Caregivers will produce a “pure” product, uncontaminated with pesticides, mold and un-necessary additives or adulterants.

5) All ingredients used to make medical marijuana tinctures, preparations, suppositories or foods will be of high quality, clearly identified and made known to patients.

6) Caregivers will protect the confidentiality of their client patients.

7) Caregivers will strive to adopt green, eco-friendly techniques. We hope to better define more of these techniques in the future, but, at a minimum, don’t pollute and recycle and re-use where possible to create the highest quality medicine with the minimum use of natural resources.