Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Moorhead - A new medical marijuana facility opened here Saturday.
The staff at Minnesota Medical Solutions, which has also opened medical marijuana facilities in Rochester and Minneapolis, expects the clinic to have 10 or 20 patients a week until the state allows patients with intractable pain to get prescriptions for medical marijuana on Aug. 1, when it expects business to pick up.
The small clinic, located between a Pizza Hut and a Verizon store on 7th Street South, offers medical marijuana to patients with conditions approved by the Minnesota Department of Health, like seizures and multiple sclerosis.
More than 1,500 people in Minnesota have been approved to pick up medical marijuana, according to MDH data. About 560 health care practitioners are authorized to approve patients.
Kyle Kingsley, Minnesota Medical Solutions' CEO, said the company's other locations have been attracting a lot of patients. For now, though, the location in Moorhead will be open every other Saturday until patient numbers pick up.
He said he expects hundreds of patients to visit MinnMed, as the company is called, once Minnesota permits intractable pain to be treated by medical cannabis.
He said the company has recently had many people from the Moorhead area drive to the Twin Cities to get treatment at the Minneapolis location.
The facility in Moorhead has a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician on staff. It doesn't distribute raw plant material. Kingsley said the facility will distribute products ranging from low concentrations of THC to ones with higher levels. Although, he said the goal isn't for patients to get high and most don't want that.
The small facility has a check-in area for reception to confirm patients are registered. A waiting room with an area for children to play and a consultation room to the side are all that patients are allowed in. Kingsley said he doesn't have any concerns about security.
"People expect this place to look like a place you'd find in Colorado," said Joe Loveland, the company's spokesman, referring to recreational shops. "It obviously doesn't look like that."
Kingsley said some people suffering from incurable pain sometimes turn to opioids, which he said are much more addictive than marijuana.
"Compared to opioids, it's a pretty darn safe medication," he said.
According to a recent MDH survey, 87 percent of medical cannabis patients have reported they see some benefit as a result of using marijuana, which can only be administered in oil, pill or liquid form in Minnesota. The survey said 100 percent of patients with Tourette Syndrome, terminal illness or glaucoma reported a benefit of four on a scale of one to seven.
MDH has also put out a fact sheet for patients, warning them not to use marijuana if they are pregnant or have serious heart disease, as well as other conditions.
Minnesota's medical cannabis law requires that one distribution center be open in each of the state's eight congressional districts by July 1 of this year. Medical marijuana facilities in St. Cloud, Hibbing, St. Paul and Eden Prairie are expected to open soon. MinnMed is also planning to open a location in Bloomington later this month.
MinnMed and LeafLine Labs are the only two companies allowed to grow and sell medical marijuana in Minnesota.
"We are not cannabis enthusiasts," Kingsley said. "We're patient advocates."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MN: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens In Moorhead On Saturday
Author: Forum News Service
Contact: 218-736-7511
Photo Credit: Gary Morrison
Website: The Daily Journal
The staff at Minnesota Medical Solutions, which has also opened medical marijuana facilities in Rochester and Minneapolis, expects the clinic to have 10 or 20 patients a week until the state allows patients with intractable pain to get prescriptions for medical marijuana on Aug. 1, when it expects business to pick up.
The small clinic, located between a Pizza Hut and a Verizon store on 7th Street South, offers medical marijuana to patients with conditions approved by the Minnesota Department of Health, like seizures and multiple sclerosis.
More than 1,500 people in Minnesota have been approved to pick up medical marijuana, according to MDH data. About 560 health care practitioners are authorized to approve patients.
Kyle Kingsley, Minnesota Medical Solutions' CEO, said the company's other locations have been attracting a lot of patients. For now, though, the location in Moorhead will be open every other Saturday until patient numbers pick up.
He said he expects hundreds of patients to visit MinnMed, as the company is called, once Minnesota permits intractable pain to be treated by medical cannabis.
He said the company has recently had many people from the Moorhead area drive to the Twin Cities to get treatment at the Minneapolis location.
The facility in Moorhead has a pharmacist and a pharmacy technician on staff. It doesn't distribute raw plant material. Kingsley said the facility will distribute products ranging from low concentrations of THC to ones with higher levels. Although, he said the goal isn't for patients to get high and most don't want that.
The small facility has a check-in area for reception to confirm patients are registered. A waiting room with an area for children to play and a consultation room to the side are all that patients are allowed in. Kingsley said he doesn't have any concerns about security.
"People expect this place to look like a place you'd find in Colorado," said Joe Loveland, the company's spokesman, referring to recreational shops. "It obviously doesn't look like that."
Kingsley said some people suffering from incurable pain sometimes turn to opioids, which he said are much more addictive than marijuana.
"Compared to opioids, it's a pretty darn safe medication," he said.
According to a recent MDH survey, 87 percent of medical cannabis patients have reported they see some benefit as a result of using marijuana, which can only be administered in oil, pill or liquid form in Minnesota. The survey said 100 percent of patients with Tourette Syndrome, terminal illness or glaucoma reported a benefit of four on a scale of one to seven.
MDH has also put out a fact sheet for patients, warning them not to use marijuana if they are pregnant or have serious heart disease, as well as other conditions.
Minnesota's medical cannabis law requires that one distribution center be open in each of the state's eight congressional districts by July 1 of this year. Medical marijuana facilities in St. Cloud, Hibbing, St. Paul and Eden Prairie are expected to open soon. MinnMed is also planning to open a location in Bloomington later this month.
MinnMed and LeafLine Labs are the only two companies allowed to grow and sell medical marijuana in Minnesota.
"We are not cannabis enthusiasts," Kingsley said. "We're patient advocates."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: MN: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Opens In Moorhead On Saturday
Author: Forum News Service
Contact: 218-736-7511
Photo Credit: Gary Morrison
Website: The Daily Journal
