Caregivers register with the state — and carry their own card.

What a Florida caregiver is

A caregiver is a person registered with the State of Florida to assist a qualified patient with the patient's medical marijuana use — most often a family member or someone the patient trusts. Common situations include an adult child helping an aging parent, a spouse assisting a partner through a serious diagnosis, or a parent of a patient who cannot manage the process alone.

The caregiver role exists inside the state's Medical Marijuana Use Registry. It is not created by a physician, a practice, or a private agreement — it exists only when the state has registered the caregiver and issued the caregiver's own registry identification card.

Registry requirements for caregivers

Caregivers carry their own obligations, separate from the patient's:

• The caregiver must be added to the patient's registry application.
• The caregiver completes their own application with the state.
• The state issues the caregiver their own registry identification card.
• The caregiver must hold that active card before purchasing or administering medical marijuana on the patient's behalf.

These steps are handled by the state, not by the certifying practice. We can explain the sequence, but we do not control state processing or timelines.

How caregivers are added to a patient's application

The connection between patient and caregiver is made in the state registry. When the patient applies — or through the state's process for updating an existing registration — the caregiver's information is added to the patient's application, and the caregiver completes their own portion. The official registry and OMMU guidance linked on this page describe the current steps.

If you are setting this up for the first time, mention it when you request the patient's evaluation. We will make sure you understand which parts belong to the physician, which belong to the state, and in what order they happen — so no one attempts a purchase before the state has issued the caregiver's card.

The limits of the caregiver role

A caregiver's authority is narrow and entirely state-defined:

• The physician certifies the patient — never the caregiver. A caregiver does not undergo a certification evaluation on the patient's behalf.
• The caregiver may act only for the patient they are registered to assist, and only after the state issues the caregiver's card.
• The role does not transfer informally. If the patient's needs change, the registry — not a private arrangement — is where changes are made.

And one limit applies to everyone involved: no diagnosis guarantees qualification, no evaluation guarantees certification, and no practice can accelerate the state's card decisions.