In short
In Puerto Rico medical cannabis is governed by Act 42-2017 and administered by the Medical Cannabis Regulatory Board, attached to the Health Department. The path is short to describe: an authorized physician — licensed by the Board to recommend — evaluates your condition within a bona fide physician-patient relationship and sends the recommendation through the platform; you create your account in Salud Digital Cannabis, complete the application, and the Board issues you a photo ID. That ID is what lets you enter a dispensary and possess cannabis, you must carry it at all times, and it is renewed every year. Three rules surprise people: smoking is strictly prohibited, use is only allowed in homes and private places, and no one under 21 may enter a dispensary. If you cannot procure it yourself, the law allows an authorized companion — 21 or older, a resident, with their own ID — who may serve only one patient at a time.
What is it?
It is the legal framework that lets you use cannabis as medical treatment without exposure to local criminal penalties. The law classifies cannabis in Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act and states the consequence clearly: whoever meets all requirements and acts within this law’s framework and regulations is not subject to criminal penalties from the Government of Puerto Rico or any governmental authority on the island; whoever acts outside that framework answers criminally. The whole system turns on three pieces: the authorized physician who recommends, the Board that registers and issues IDs, and the licensed dispensaries as the only legal point of sale.
Who can do it?
You need a recommendation from a Board-authorized physician, issued within a bona fide physician-patient relationship: the physician must evaluate you and review your history as part of treating your condition. The qualifying conditions are not in the law: the law expressly delegates setting them to the Board by regulation, advised by its Medical Advisory Body, and the Board publishes that it recognizes 25 debilitating conditions. Ask an authorized physician or check the Board’s current list before assuming your condition qualifies. For minors, the Board requires two medical recommendations plus parental authorization. Non-resident patients from a US state may use the ID issued by their state, meeting the regulation’s requirements.
Requirements
- A recommendation from a Board-authorized physician, within a bona fide physician-patient relationship including evaluation and medical history.Verified against the official source
- That your condition be among those the Board sets by regulation: the law delegates that list to the Board, advised by its Medical Advisory Body.Verified against the official source
- Obtaining and carrying the Board’s photo ID: it is required to enter a dispensary, to possess cannabis, and to use it.Verified against the official source
- Renewing the ID every year.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: See an authorized physician
Not every physician can recommend cannabis: the Board issues specific licenses to physicians meeting the criteria, and that license lasts three years. The physician must maintain a bona fide physician-patient relationship with you — genuinely evaluate you, review your history — and inform you of risks and benefits. Recommending without sufficient reasons and outside that relationship is a misdemeanor for the physician, so a "recommender" who does not examine you is doing you no favor.
Step 2: Register on the platform
The physician sends the recommendation through the Board’s platform. You go to saluddigitalcannabis.salud.pr.gov, create your account with your basic data, choose the application type, locate the recommendation your physician sent, sign the privacy policy, take the 2x2 photo and complete the documents digitally.
Step 3: Carry the ID with you, always
The law is explicit: the patient or authorized companion must have the photo ID at all times while in possession of medical cannabis, and it is what dispensaries require for entry. No one under 21 may enter a dispensary, patient or not. If you are a non-resident patient, what you carry is your jurisdiction’s ID.
Step 4: Know the prohibitions before you need them
Smoking cannabis is strictly prohibited by the law — the framework contemplates vaporizing and other forms, not combustion. Use is only allowed in homes and private places, defined as sites with an expectation of privacy and the owner’s authorization; in public places it is prohibited, and you also cannot use it at a licensee’s facilities, nor in dispensaries. Selling, giving away or transferring your cannabis to another person is prohibited, as is consuming or distributing samples at conventions or events.
Step 5: If you cannot go yourself: authorized companion
A patient who cannot reasonably procure their medical cannabis can be assisted by an authorized companion: a person 21 or older, resident in Puerto Rico, with their own Board-issued photo ID, who may enter the dispensary for the sole purpose of procuring the cannabis of the patient in their care. No one may be companion to more than one patient, and a person convicted of distributing or selling controlled substances cannot serve.
Where to do it
Online, on the Salud Digital Cannabis platform (saluddigitalcannabis.salud.pr.gov), after your authorized physician sends the recommendation. The Medical Cannabis Regulatory Board answers at (787) 765-2929, extensions 3504, 6802, 6831 and 6803; email cannabismedicinal@salud.pr.gov; offices at Building 3, Office 301, Metro Office Park, Guaynabo; PO Box 70184, San Juan, PR 00936-8184.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your condition is not on the Board’s list, the path is not to find someone who will sign: it is to discuss it with an authorized physician, because the Board sets the list by regulation and it changes. If your ID expired, you are not covered — the law’s criminal protection applies to those acting within its framework, and that framework includes carrying a current ID. If a physician offers you the recommendation without evaluating you, beware: the law requires the bona fide relationship and punishes the physician who breaches it. And if you are a patient travelling outside Puerto Rico, do not assume automatic reciprocity: the law recognizes other jurisdictions’ IDs for entry here, but what happens elsewhere is governed by the law there.
Common mistakes
- Believing the card allows smoking: the law strictly prohibits consumption by smoking.
- Using it in a public place. Medicinal use is only allowed in homes and private places as the law defines them.
- Going out without the ID: it must be carried at all times while in possession of cannabis, not just when buying.
- Letting the ID expire: it renews yearly, and without it you fall outside the framework that protects you.
- Sharing or selling your cannabis: the law expressly prohibits the sale, distribution or transfer of a patient’s surplus.
- Bringing someone under 21 to the dispensary: the law prohibits their entry with no patient exception.
- Naming a companion who already assists another patient: the law allows one patient per companion.
Frequently asked questions
Which conditions qualify?
The law does not list them: it expressly delegates setting them to the Board by regulation, advised by its Medical Advisory Body. The Board publishes that it recognizes 25 debilitating conditions, among them Alzheimer’s, cancer, epilepsy, PTSD, chronic pain and autism. Since that list can change by regulation, verify it with the Board or your authorized physician instead of trusting a list copied elsewhere.
How much does the card cost?
Neither the law nor the Board page we read publishes the patient’s cost, and we do not invent it. Ask the Board at (787) 765-2929 or the authorized physician, who also charges for their evaluation.
Can I grow my own plant?
Not with your patient ID. The law creates specific licenses for cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary, laboratory and transport, and prohibits the sale or transfer of cannabis except at an authorized dispensary. It also prohibits importing cannabis or seeds outside the current legal framework.
I am from another state and visiting — does my card work?
The law includes in its definition of patient those residing in another state of the Nation who have a medical recommendation and an ID issued by their state for these purposes, also meeting the regulation’s requirements. With that jurisdiction’s ID you can enter a dispensary and possess cannabis here.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico
Salud
www.salud.pr.gov
- Act 42-2017 ("Ley MEDICINAL"), text compiled by OGP
OGP
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
- Salud Digital Cannabis, patient registration platform
Salud
saluddigitalcannabis.salud.pr.gov
Last verified
August 16, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
Was this guide helpful?
Did you find out-of-date information?
Your rights as a patient: what the Bill of Rights says
Act 194-2000 made plain: emergency access regardless of ability to pay, information before deciding, your medical record, and the right to appeal a denial.
How to apply for Plan Vital (Medicaid) in Puerto Rico
What Plan Vital is, why eligibility is determined by the Medicaid Program rather than ASES, what documents are requested, and how to pick an insurer.
ASSMCA treatment: which programme fits you and where it is
ASSMCA is not one door. Five divisions and dozens of programmes by age, condition and region: minors, adults, addiction, recovery, homelessness and hospitals.
Telemedicine in Puerto Rico: what it is and how a professional is certified
Ley 168-2018 governs telemedicine in Puerto Rico. The professional needs Health Department certification, a PR licence and a licence where the patient is.