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Seriously Ill Minnesotans Excluded From State's Limited Medical Marijuana Program Call on Gubernatorial Candidates to Tell Voters Whether They Support Expanding the Law

Patients, family members, and supporters to announce which candidates have signed a statement in support of expanding the law at a new conference Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the State Office Building

ST. PAUL — Seriously ill Minnesotans who have been denied access to the state’s limited medical marijuana program are calling on gubernatorial candidates to publicly state whether they support expanding the state’s medical marijuana law.

A group of patients, family members, and advocates will announce which candidates have signed the statement at a news conference on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. CT in Room 181 of the State Office Building. They will also explain why Minnesota’s medical marijuana program must be expanded to include all of the medical conditions and methods of administering medical marijuana that were approved by a bipartisan majority of the Minnesota Senate but left out of the final legislation.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of Minnesotans suffering from truly debilitating conditions who will not be allowed to access medical marijuana under the new law,” said Patrick McClellan, a medical marijuana patient advocate. “Whoever is elected governor must be ready to work with the legislature to expand it to include all seriously ill Minnesotans who could benefit from medical marijuana. Voters deserve to know which candidates are committed to doing that.”

Approximately 5,000 Minnesotans with debilitating medical conditions currently qualify for the medical cannabis program approved by Gov. Mark Dayton. Approximately 38,000 Minnesotans would have qualified for the more comprehensive version of the legislation approved in the Senate, including individuals suffering from intractable pain, nausea, wasting, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At the behest of law enforcement associations, Gov. Dayton threatened to veto the Senate bill and insisted the final version of the law must deny access to these approximately 33,000 seriously ill Minnesotans.

“Many seriously ill Minnesotans and their families have been waiting a long time for our state to adopt a law that protects medical marijuana patients,” McClellan said. “The new law holds promise for some of us, but it leaves far more of us behind.”

WHAT: News conference to announce which Minnesota gubernatorial candidates have signed a statement in support of expanding the state’s medical marijuana program

WHEN: Thursday, October 30, 1:30 p.m. CT

WHERE: Room 181 of the Minnesota State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul

WHO: Minnesota patients, family members, and supporters

Heather Azzi from Minnesotans for Compassionate Care will be available for comment

Minnesotans for Compassionate Care (MCC) is a coalition of organizations, medical professionals, patients, and concerned citizens working to protect people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, and other serious illnesses from arrest and imprisonment for using medical marijuana with their physicians’ advice. For more information visit http://www.MNcares.org.

 

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