Group Petitions For Medical Pot Program To Include Opioid Addiction
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A medical marijuana advocate group is petitioning the state government to expand Minnesota's medical pot program to include those who struggle with opioid addiction.
"We know medical cannabis isn't going to solve the opioid crisis, but we're confident that it is a tool that will decrease opioid use as shown by Minnesota's own data," said Maren Schroeder, the president of Sensible Minnesota, in a press release Monday.
She says that New York and Pennsylvania have already added opioid use disorder as a qualifying condition in their state programs.
Sensible Minnesota is also petitioning the government to include Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury and Hepatitis C in the state's marijuana program.
Currently, the program's qualifying conditions include cancer, HIV, Tourette syndrome, seizures, intractable pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The conditions added to the program this year were autism and sleep apnea.
The Minnesota Department of Health has a petition program to add qualifying medical conditions.
The 2018 petition window closes Wednesday. One condition already received this year was juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
Once officials receive the petitions, a panel reviews them and there'll be hearings for public comment. A decision on new addictions to the program is expected to come down before the end of the year.
For more information on the state's medical marijuana program, click here.