medical marijuana

noun

variants or less commonly medical cannabis

: marijuana that is available only by prescription and is used to treat a variety of medical conditions (such as pain, anxiety, nausea, and glaucoma)

In the 14 states that allow medical marijuana, middle-aged baby boomers talk quite freely about filling their prescriptions at the local dispensary (of which there are nearly 1,400 in California alone).

—Eve Conant

also : any of various substances (such as cannabidiol) extracted from marijuana and used similarly

Examples of medical marijuana in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But between his advertising and political activism (he’s poured $14 million into getting Florida to raise its minimum wage and legalize medical marijuana), he’s earned enough goodwill that opposing counsel sometimes files a motion to keep jurors from knowing Morgan’s firm is involved in a case. —Brandon Kochkodin, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024

Volokh uses state laws regulating medical marijuana as an example. —Solcyré Burga, TIME, 2 Dec. 2024

The election showed the majority of people want recreational in Florida, Nebraska will finally have medical marijuana, and cannabis wasn’t a deciding factor in swinging votes. —Tribune Content Agency, The Mercury News, 14 Nov. 2024

Voters in four states had the chance to vote for legalizing either recreational or medical marijuana on Tuesday. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1976, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

medical marijuana

noun

variants also medical cannabis

: marijuana that is available only by prescription and is used to treat a variety of medical conditions (as pain, anxiety, nausea, and glaucoma)

also : any of various substances (as cannabidiol) extracted from marijuana and used similarly