In Canada it's simple to get your card. As long as you have a computer you just print out the requests at the Health Canada website including the form for your doc to fill out and mail it in. You have a choice of schedule A or B. A is the obvious conditions: AIDS,cancer, spinal damage, intractable pain/muscle spasm, epilepsy and MS and B is a little more intensive requiring your doctor to explain failed accepted treatments for any disease process not listed in A and goals for how marijuana will relieve the worst of your disability.
You no longer require a specialist to co-sign for group A but may need one for group B if you have a history of schizophrenia or psychosis because marijuana in a first time user may cause serious drug interactions or worse exacerbation of symptoms.
As a disabled health care professional using marijuana to help with neuropathic pain caused by spinal cord damage I have done my research and I believe it is a safer, more effective choice than spinal surgery, percocet ,Oxycontin, muscle relaxants, anti-epileptics,epidural steroid injections and anti-depressants that have left me with permanent Parkinson's tremors.
You cannot just go straight for the weed though, you are expected to at least try the accepted medical model for your condition.
Marijuana is an adjunctive therapy that has not been completely researched and may carry some risk, you have to decide if the risk is worth it and that you have a made an honest attempt to comply with all the treatments your doctor or your medical team have suggested.
Marijuana will not be a miracle drug that solves all your medical problems, it may fail miserably or it may offer only a little help..it's no different than all the other treatments you have tried. Don't let anyone convince you it is the holy grail or you may be terribly disappointed. Use it no differently than any other treatment that has given you some relief.
I am over the people who mythologize weed, they are obviously recreational users who haven't got a clue.
Getting permission is not difficult for anyone who has a good working relationship with their health care providers and has an appropriate attitude towards taking personal responsibility for their own care.