Tomorrow (Tues 8/1) is when Minnesotans with post-traumatic stress disorder who are certified by the state-run program can begin obtaining medical marijuana for their condition. Mike Schommer with the Minnesota Department of Health says as of the third week in July, 65 patients with P-T-S-D had been certified for medical cannabis, out of about 63-hundred total participants. Schommer says, “The program is growing, but it’s growing… at a steady pace. It’s not jumping around quite as much as some people thought it might.” Each year people can petition the Health Department to add more conditions to the list of those qualifying for medical cannabis. Since the program opened in 2015, intractable pain and P-T-S-D have been added to the initial list of nine qualifying conditions.
Other qualifying conditions in order to be certified for access to medical cannabis in Minnesota (the initial list of nine approved by the legislature):
Cancer associated with severe/chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, or cachexia or severe wasting.
Glaucoma.
HIV/AIDS.
Tourette Syndrome.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Seizures, including those characteristic of epilepsy.
Severe and persistent muscle spasms, including those characteristic of multiple sclerosis.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, including Crohn’s Disease.
Terminal illness, with a life expectancy of less than one year, if the illness or treatment produces severe/chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, cachexia or severe wasting.