Florida Medical Cannabis Qualifying Conditions Under §381.986

Last verified: May 2026

The Statutory List — §381.986(2)

Florida’s medical cannabis qualifying conditions are enumerated in §381.986(2), which incorporates Article X §29 of the Florida Constitution (Amendment 2, 2016). The statute lists:

• Cancer
• Epilepsy
• Glaucoma
• HIV/AIDS
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
• Crohn’s Disease
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Terminal conditions diagnosed by a second physician (life expectancy ≤12 months)
• Chronic nonmalignant pain — added by SB 8A in 2017 and broadened in 2019
• The catch-all: “other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated”

The Catch-All — The Most Important Provision

The “same kind or class” catch-all is what made Florida’s patient population grow from approximately 70,000 in 2018 to more than 925,000 by April 2026. Physicians have meaningful discretion to certify under the catch-all for conditions including:

• Anxiety disorders
• Insomnia and other sleep disorders
• Migraine and chronic headache disorders
• Fibromyalgia
• Arthritis and other inflammatory joint conditions
• Inflammatory bowel disease (other than Crohn’s)
• Anorexia and cachexia
• Severe and persistent muscle spasms
• Spinal cord injury sequelae
• Tic disorders, including Tourette syndrome
• Autism spectrum disorders (in the discretion of the certifying physician)

The Florida Board of Medicine has not formally enumerated which non-listed conditions qualify under the catch-all; the determination is left to the certifying physician’s clinical judgment. ⚠️ Practice varies considerably between Miami-Dade physicians; patients with non-enumerated conditions should ask explicitly during their initial consultation.

Chronic Nonmalignant Pain — The Dominant Driver

Chronic nonmalignant pain was added to the qualifying-conditions list by SB 8A in June 2017 and broadened by subsequent rulemaking in 2019. It is the most common qualifying diagnosis in Florida; estimates from MMTC patient-survey data suggest 50–65% of Florida medical patients qualify primarily under this category.

The statute does not define a minimum-pain threshold or duration. In practice, Miami-Dade physicians document chronic pain (≥3 months continuing or recurring) with subjective patient reports, prior treatment history, and (sometimes) imaging or specialist referral. The flexibility of this category is the engine that has powered Florida’s patient growth.

PTSD — A Major Miami-Dade Category

Miami-Dade has notable PTSD-qualifying patient populations:

• Veterans — Miami-Dade hosts a large veteran population. Most major MMTCs offer veteran discounts.
• Cuban exiles — older cohorts who experienced political repression in pre-revolutionary or post-revolutionary Cuba have documented PTSD prevalence in Miami-Dade clinical literature.
• Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Colombian, and Haitian refugees — political-violence and intra-family-violence trauma is common in these patient communities.
• Holocaust survivors and second-generation — Miami-Dade hosts one of the largest Jewish populations in the U.S.
• First-responders, healthcare workers, and law-enforcement personnel — PTSD is common but qualifying in this population is complicated by employer drug-testing.

Cancer Patients

Cancer patients are typically certified rapidly, often through the major Miami-Dade hospital systems’ oncology services in coordination with the OMMU registry. Patients receiving palliative cancer care may also qualify on the terminal-conditions pathway with second-physician confirmation.

Conditions Not on the List

Some commonly-asked conditions that do not directly qualify (though may qualify under the catch-all in physician discretion):

• ADHD — physician-discretionary; mixed practice
• Depression alone, without PTSD or trauma history — mixed practice
• Substance-use disorder treatment — not a Florida-recognized indication
• Recreational stress relief — not an indication; physicians cannot certify on this basis

Pediatric Patients

Florida law allows medical cannabis for minors only for terminal conditions confirmed by a second physician, plus parental consent. Routine pediatric MMJ certification for chronic-pain or PTSD diagnoses is not authorized. Specialty practices — particularly pediatric oncology and pediatric epilepsy — provide most of Florida’s pediatric MMJ patient base.

Documentation

Patients should bring to the initial physician visit:

• Florida driver’s license or two seasonal-residency proofs
• Existing medical records documenting the qualifying condition
• Current medication list
• Specialist referral or diagnosis records, if available
• Photo for the OMMU MMUR card

Companion Site — Statewide Florida Detail

For statewide Florida medical-program patient breakdown, condition-specific patient counts, OMMU rule-making history on individual conditions, and the politics of recurring legislative attempts to expand or restrict the qualifying-conditions list, see CannabisFL.org.

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