Minnesota Adds Intractable Pain As Qualifying Medical Cannabis Condition
Intractable pain has been added to Minnesota’s list of conditions that qualify an individual to become a valid medical cannabis patient, according to an announcement made by Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. The new change officially goes into effect on July 1st.
“The relative scarcity of firm evidence made this a difficult decision,” said Ehlinger, who despite approving the change clearly doesn’t understand that numerous scientific studies have found cannabis to be beneficial for pain treatnment. “However, given the strong medical focus of Minnesota’s medical cannabis program and the compelling testimony of hundreds of Minnesotans, it became clear that the right and compassionate choice was to add intractable pain to the program’s list of qualifying conditions. This gives new options for clinicians and new hope for suffering patients.”
“This is a sensible and compassionate decision that will help a lot of Minnesotans who suffer every day from intractable pain”, says Robert Capecchi, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project. “We commend Commissioner Ehlinger and everyone else involved in taking this important step toward improving the lives of countless Minnesotans.”
With this change, intractable pain joins cancer, glaucoma, HIV/aids, tourette syndrome, ALS, seizure disorders, severe and persistent muscle spasms, Crohn’s disease and terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than a year as qualifying medical cannabis conditions in Minnesota.
More information on Minnesota’s medical cannabis program can be found by clicking here.
– TheJointBlog