No one has to wait to talk to their doctor.
The doctor doesn't have to write the recommendation for you to be protected. All that has to take place is for the doctor to write it into your medical record.
At that moment you are covered by the new law.
What conditions are covered? Anything at all that your doctor feels makes sense.
By "makes sense" I mean that the condition is "serious" and you are likely to get benefit from marijuana.
It's best to get the exact wording from the folks at
http://www.qualifyingpatiants.org or
http://www.woolmill.com/michigan%20m...imdmjindex.htm
They are trying to put out a set of forms and procedures that would make it so that doctors would not be required to testify in court or have to go before the board for you.
Doctors are concerned about their practices and licenses. The DEA issues licenses to doctors to prescribe drugs. They fear that the DEA will yank their licenses if they recommend marijuana to their patients. One of the main reasons that doctors fear this is that the DEA used to do threaten doctors with just that.
However since a 2006 supreme court ruling, the DEA stopped doing that. The supreme court ruled that states can set accepted medical practice. That ruling was to protect doctors from just such a threat.
Yes, the DEA can yank a doctors license if the doctor over prescribes. But that would involve much more than just a single case.