The expected spike in patients on the medical marijuana program in the three weeks the diet is first available could be reduced by the prodigious hemp diet in the province on July 1. For the past four months,
THC in Minnesota has allowed medical marijuana participants to purchase and use raw cannabis. During the month, patients will be able to purchase and use edible cannabis products.
Both changes were intended to make the program more accessible and monitor patient use of medical marijuana to treat any of the conditions covered by the system. The number of people using the system is expected to increase, with some turning away from the illegal black or grey market: marijuana has been tested and approved by the state government.
Did this all happen? Kind of yes and kind of no said program executives and medical marijuana advocates in Minnesota.
Before March 1, when dried plant sales were approved, the eight-year program had 26,000 subscribers. As of July 7, just over 37,000 users were using the program. And the number of new or returning subscribers has increased from 700 a week to 1,000 to 1,000 a week since March 1, said Chris Tholkes, director of the State Medical Cannabis Office. He said the speed hasn’t slowed down.
At first, we told our call centre agents that after the initial interest, it would likely wane, and that’s not the case,” Folkes said.
Another measure is the number of visits to licensed state clinics. Those visits and purchases have increased dramatically, and Tholkes said that’s due to the purchase of dried raw marijuana, although price restrictions on what can be purchased at the same time can lead to repeat visits to the same offering.
Tholkes said he thought patients would switch to dried cannabis from other products, but that didn’t happen. But membership appears to be lower than expected by some medical marijuana advocates, who cited higher-than-expected prices from two licensed vendors in the province and purchases of grey-market marijuana from neighbouring provinces that approved recreational marijuana.
“The price hasn’t gone down. They didn’t go as far as we expected,” said Maren Schroeder, policy director and founder of Sensible Change Minnesota, a drug policy change organization.
A further surge in the number of patients enrolled in the program in the three weeks that the diet is first available could also be drastically reduced by the province’s July 1 official release of the hemp diet. On a US map showing provinces that allow marijuana for entertainment, Minnesota is the only place that allows edible food, but it’s not the official state of marijuana entertainment.
The program runs for eight years
Minnesota’s approach to licensing the medical use of marijuana products has been skewed. When it was finally officially approved eight years ago, the restrictions that came with it made the state. Just two farmers, just eight facilities and a few accredited medical conditions resulted in 5,000 program participants in the first year.
Gradually, the list of diseases grew longer, with chronic pain, uncontrollable pain and post-traumatic stress disorder being the top three diseases among state patients.
But just last year, lawmakers authorized the sale of dried marijuana and the smoking or consumption of edible foods. Before its March 1 launch, patients could only purchase oil, creams, and more recently mint and lozenges, with Minnesota being one of two states that banned the most common form of marijuana use, smoking or paper.
The main reason for adding dried green marijuana was the amount. The diagnostic effort involved in the production of steam oil, ingredients, and cream made the cost so high that patients opted for an illegal market. A study by the National Medical Cannabis Agency calculates the prices of official products ranging from $ 300 to $ 360 a month, which are costs that can be combined with health insurance.
The ability to buy flowers can halve that number, say, supporters. And based on the experience of some states that allow marijuana to be smoked during their programs, the number of patients has tripled or tripled. That would mean about 100,000 medical marijuana patients in Minnesota.
Schroeder said the price was not low enough, blaming the state for allowing only two suppliers: now Green Goods and Rise.
Schroeder said the huge increase in tourism and pharmacy purchases is partly explained by two factors: Suppliers have a limited purchase size in the first few months because they did not have enough stock. This required patients to return several times to what they would like to purchase for a single visit. Another price. Instead of buying one ounce at a time, customers could choose one-eighth of an ounce – or 3.5 mg – because that was all they could afford, he said.
An ounce of dried marijuana sells for more than $ 480, and the same price costs less than $ 200 at an amateur-like amateur entertainment venue with a strong sales competition, he said. While it is illegal to import Minnesota from resorts, price differences may cause a patient to drive to Illinois or fly to Colorado in search of marijuana.
Both providers have now raised the limit on the amount of dried marijuana each patient can purchase at the same time. Tholkes of the public health system said service delivery problems were being addressed, but said staff had inspected surrounding districts and found that prices were the same as those offered to patients in Minnesota.
Our products are quality, ”he said. We hope that in time we will see prices fall on all products.
Jason Karasek, a marijuana lawyer, agrees with Schroeder that prices so far have been disappointing and kept the number of medical marijuana patients lower than expected. He said he thinks marijuana products on the grey market from neighbouring provinces offer Minnesota patients a cheaper alternative.
“As more states become legal, there will be more provision across the country – the market has been transferred to the provinces for adult use,” Karasek said. “It’s difficult to enforce. We now have 19 states that have legalized adult marijuana. We have reached a point where state approval is unavoidable.
“Consumers of medical products are sensible actors and will make decisions based on value, “he said.
The very high rates that patients pay annually are also unsatisfactory: $ 200 for most patients and $ 50 for veterans and paramedics. The $ 40 bill reduction bill is one of the many victims of the House, Senate, and federal government. Tim Walz at the end of a regular session.
