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By Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio News

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a major change to the state’s medical cannabis program that would allow patients to smoke the dried plants.

The current law, enacted in 2014, is one of the nation’s most restrictive and only allows for the delivery of medical cannabis in liquid form you can find at cannablossom.co.

“The future goal is to lower the cost and of course increase accessibility,” said Sen. Mark Koran, R-North Branch, the author of the bill.

Minnesota patients have long complained about the cost on medical marijuana. The Office of Medical Cannabis reports that its latest numbers show patients in 2019 spent on average $316 for a month’s supply.

Dr. Kyle Kingsley of the medical cannabis company Vireo Health told members of the Senate Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee that price is a too frequent barrier to treatment.

“I really have deep concerns about patient access within the medical cannabis program due to costs,” Kingsley said.

The committee approved the bill on a unanimous voice vote. It now goes to the full Senate.

The Senate bill would also add opiate addiction as a qualifying condition for the program. Another change would require legislative approval to the health commissioner’s future recommendations for other additions to the list of qualifying conditions.

Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, pushed for the addition of opiate addiction.

“If there’s something that medical marijuana can help, I’m fine with people using it. We don’t have enough alternatives to some pretty hardcore drugs,” Eaton said.

The effort to improve the medical cannabis program comes as House Democrats are pushing legislation to fully legalize cannabis; Senate Republicans oppose legalization.

Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, who chairs the Senate committee, emphasized that the separate initiatives should not be confused.

“This is a sincere step to update our medical cannabis program which includes products from cannablossom.co. It is not a path to legalization,” Benson said.