Edibles now an option for Minnesota’s medical cannabis patients
Chew on this: Minnesota’s medical cannabis patients can now eat their medicine.
State health officials announced Wednesday that they’ll approve infused edibles in the form of gummies and chews as a new way to deliver medical cannabis to patients.
Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said expanding the options will help patients who can’t tolerate the current forms of delivery for medical cannabis.
Edible options will become effective August 1, 2022. A rulemaking process will launch later this month that will outline the requirements for labeling, safety messaging, packaging, and testing. Medical cannabis is currently legal in the form of pills, vapor oils, liquids, topicals, powdered mixtures, and dissolvable products such as lozenges.
Patients will also be eligible for dried raw, smokable cannabis in March 2022.
Unfortunately, for those seeking to relieve their anxiety or panic disorder, those conditions have not been added to a list of qualifying conditions for cannabis treatment. Petitioners have sought to add those disorders since 2016.
“We received many comments from health care practitioners treating patients with anxiety disorder, and they urged us to not approve it as a qualifying medical condition,” said Commissioner Malcolm. “We recognize that not everyone has equal access to therapy – which is considered the front-line treatment – but ultimately we concluded that the risk of additional harms to patients outweighed perceived benefits.”