Minnesota Department of Health Awards Two Medical Cannabis Manufacturer Licenses

Patients and advocates praise Minnesota Department of Health for selecting the two manufacturers in accordance with the legislative timeline

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Health announced Monday that they have selected two entities to operate as medical cannabis manufacturers under the provisions of the medical cannabis law enacted in May 2014. The successful applicants were chosen among 12 competing proposals. This announcement is on schedule with the legislatively-enacted timeline, which aims to have distribution sites open and dispensing medical cannabis products to registered patients and their caregivers by July 1, 2015.

Minnesota’s implementation was among the most rapid of any medical marijuana program that includes regulated dispensing. Each manufacturer will be allowed to have up to four distribution points across the state to serve the estimated 5,000 seriously ill Minnesotans who will qualify under the law.

“Selection of the medical cannabis manufacturers is a big step forward toward safe and legal access to the medicine my son needs,” said Jessica Hauser, whose son Wyatt suffers from a condition that can cause hundreds of seizures a day. “After traveling to Oregon, my family knows that Wyatt will benefit from using medical cannabis products. We are excited for the day where we can get in our car, instead of on a plane, to obtain medicine that we know improves his quality of life.”

“We are grateful that the Department of Health recognized that our loved ones can’t afford a slow, drawn out process that patients in other states have endured. Their health — and even lives — depends on safe access to medical cannabis,” continued Hauser.

Referencing the case of Angela Brown, who is being prosecuted for providing medical cannabis oil from Colorado to her son, who suffers from intense pain as a result of traumatic brain injury, Hauser remarked, “As welcome as this announcement is, we recognize that even this is not quick enough for some families. At least one parent is facing criminal prosecution for acting to prevent her son from needlessly suffering during the 15-month wait between the law’s passage and the opening of the first manufacturer.”

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.