Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Friday, July 1 marked the one-year anniversary of Minnesota's medical cannabis program. It also marked the day intractable pain patients could register for medical marijuana.
The state's medical cannabis law defines intractable pain as a condition "in which the cause of the pain cannot be removed or otherwise treated with the consent of the patient and in which, in the generally accepted course of medical practice, no relief or cure of the cause of the pain is possible, or none has been found after reasonable efforts."
"During this first year, Minnesota has succeeded at setting up a medically focused program that provides consistent and quality-controlled cannabis products to patients," Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger said. "According to our early surveys, about 90 percent of Minnesota patients reported some level of benefit."
The department did not receive any reports of serious adverse health events related to the use of medical cannabis.
The Minnesota Department of Health added intractable pain to the list of qualifying conditions for the program and added resources to its medical cannabis website to help patients understand their options.
Once patients with intractable pain are certified as having the condition, they can start receiving medical cannabis at patient cannabis centers beginning Aug. 1. The state expects the addition of intractable pain to expand the number of patients using medical cannabis, but there are no estimates of the potential pain patients at this time. Medical cannabis in Minnesota comes in pill or liquid forms, not as a plant for smoking or to eat.
The first step for a patient is to visit a health care provider who can go to the MDH website and certify the patient has one or more qualifying conditions. Once a provider certifies a patient, the patient can register on the MDH website to receive medical cannabis at one of the state's eight patient center locations - Moorhead, Eagan, Hibbing, St. Cloud, Rochester, Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Patients must pay an enrollment fee before they are eligible to legally purchase and possess medical cannabis. Minnesota Statutes section 152.35 requires patients to pay a fee of $200 to enroll in the program. Patients who receive government assistance - MN Care, Social Security Disability, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid/MA and CHAMPVA - qualify for a reduced fee of $50.
As of an April medical cannabis update by the department, approximately 58 percent of registered patients have qualified for the reduced enrollment fee. The three most frequently certified qualifying conditions are severe and persistent muscle spasms (43 percent), cancer or its treatment (24 percent), and seizures (23 percent), including those characteristic of epilepsy.
The majority of active patients by age are in the 50-64 year old range, with 371, followed by 281 patients ages 36-49 and 186 25-35 year olds. Those age 65 and older total about 130 patients, with ages 5-17 totaling 124, and ages zero to 4 totaling 22.
For more information or to register as a patient, visit the Minnesota Department of Health's Medical Cannabis website here.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Minnesota Medical Cannabis Registration Now Open
Author: Carrie McDermott
Contact: 701-642-8585
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Daily News
The state's medical cannabis law defines intractable pain as a condition "in which the cause of the pain cannot be removed or otherwise treated with the consent of the patient and in which, in the generally accepted course of medical practice, no relief or cure of the cause of the pain is possible, or none has been found after reasonable efforts."
"During this first year, Minnesota has succeeded at setting up a medically focused program that provides consistent and quality-controlled cannabis products to patients," Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger said. "According to our early surveys, about 90 percent of Minnesota patients reported some level of benefit."
The department did not receive any reports of serious adverse health events related to the use of medical cannabis.
The Minnesota Department of Health added intractable pain to the list of qualifying conditions for the program and added resources to its medical cannabis website to help patients understand their options.
Once patients with intractable pain are certified as having the condition, they can start receiving medical cannabis at patient cannabis centers beginning Aug. 1. The state expects the addition of intractable pain to expand the number of patients using medical cannabis, but there are no estimates of the potential pain patients at this time. Medical cannabis in Minnesota comes in pill or liquid forms, not as a plant for smoking or to eat.
The first step for a patient is to visit a health care provider who can go to the MDH website and certify the patient has one or more qualifying conditions. Once a provider certifies a patient, the patient can register on the MDH website to receive medical cannabis at one of the state's eight patient center locations - Moorhead, Eagan, Hibbing, St. Cloud, Rochester, Bloomington, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Patients must pay an enrollment fee before they are eligible to legally purchase and possess medical cannabis. Minnesota Statutes section 152.35 requires patients to pay a fee of $200 to enroll in the program. Patients who receive government assistance - MN Care, Social Security Disability, Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid/MA and CHAMPVA - qualify for a reduced fee of $50.
As of an April medical cannabis update by the department, approximately 58 percent of registered patients have qualified for the reduced enrollment fee. The three most frequently certified qualifying conditions are severe and persistent muscle spasms (43 percent), cancer or its treatment (24 percent), and seizures (23 percent), including those characteristic of epilepsy.
The majority of active patients by age are in the 50-64 year old range, with 371, followed by 281 patients ages 36-49 and 186 25-35 year olds. Those age 65 and older total about 130 patients, with ages 5-17 totaling 124, and ages zero to 4 totaling 22.
For more information or to register as a patient, visit the Minnesota Department of Health's Medical Cannabis website here.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Minnesota Medical Cannabis Registration Now Open
Author: Carrie McDermott
Contact: 701-642-8585
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Daily News
