Patients now need only a doctor's OK to get medical cannabis in Minnesota

Minnesota's list of conditions that qualify for medical cannabis became largely irrelevant Monday, when revised state law allowed patients to gain access simply if their doctors recommend it.

Giving doctors broad discretion to recommend medical cannabis makes sense, because patients are just going to turn to Minnesota's recreational marketplace if they can't get what they want from the state's medical program, said Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, whose legislation this session prompted the expansion.

"It just doesn't fit anymore" to have one of the nation's most restrictive lists of qualifying conditions, she said. "We want to make sure, if they have a condition that cannabis can help, that their doctor can help them find the right kind of cannabis. With the legal market open, there is really no reason to limit what doctors can prescribe because folks will be able to go out there and get anything."

https://www.startribune.com/patients-now-need-only-a-doctors-okay-to-get-medical-cannabis-in-minnesota/600377697/