This week, News Talk 830 WCCO is taking a look at some of the issues and challenges surrounding Minnesota’s new law that legalizes recreational marijuana.
Recreational cannabis use is now legal in Minnesota for residents 21 and older, but questions remain about how this change will affect the medical cannabis industry.
Director of the Office of Medical Cannabis Chris Tholkes says their office serves a much different demographic than traditional recreational dispensaries.
"I think one of the major differences between adult use and medical cannabis is the age limitations," says Tholkes. "We have patients in our program that are under the age of 21. We have pediatric patients. Those folks still need to be able to access their medication for their qualifying conditions."
Tholkes says there are benefits to the medical office having been established in the state for a long period of time when it comes to regulations and leadership. She says there's still a lot of unknowns for adult use.
"It's the Department of Agriculture that is incubating the Office of Cannabis Management," Tholkes explains. "Anything that's related to adult use, licensing, is being referred to them. And they are largely letting folks know that they need to go through a process which is going to take months, largely just asking people for a little bit of patience while they figure out all the details and hire staff."
Looking to the future changes to the medical cannabis industry set for 2025 include a new visiting patient program that will allow out of state medical patients to get their products from Minnesota, as well as an expansion of existing available products.
"The medical program right now allows a variety of products," Tholkes said. "They allow flowers, they allow vaping, capsules, lozenges, topicals. Eventually when we get to 2025 the same products will be allowed in each market. I think that it'll be more of a style preference."
Perhaps the biggest changes for the medical office are that it will move from oversight under the Minnesota Department of Health to the Office of Cannabis Management in 2025. They have said Minnesota residents who use cannabis for medical treatments will see prices drop as products become tax free.
MORE: See all of WCCO's series on Legalizing Recreational Marijuana here.
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