The Sensible Minnesota and Sensible Change Minnesota teams applaud Commissioner Malcom’s decision to add certain edibles (gummies and chews) as a delivery method to the state’s Medical Cannabis program. We believe this addition, along with the decision to allow patients to purchase cannabis flower through the program, will make participation in the program more accessible and appealing to patients by reducing prices and offering more variety in products. The regulation and quality control will help patients make more informed decisions about their medicine. It is our hope that in the future, the Commissioner will expand allowable edible types.

We are disappointed in the decision to again deny the petition to add anxiety as a qualifying condition. By not providing legal access to a medicine that anxiety patients and their physicians know works for them, and restricting access to medicine that is of a known strength and cannabinoid composition, patients are instead pushed to unregulated products of unknown strength and cannabinoid content that risk exacerbating anxiety symptoms. We ask the Office of Medical Cannabis and the Minnesota Department of Health, along with the Minnesota legislature, to consider lifting the restrictions on which conditions qualify a patient for medical cannabis. The last 100 years has shown us that prohibition with the intention of reducing harm rarely has the intended outcome.

This post is cross-posted with minor edits to the Sensible Minnesota blog.