500 People Registered To Purchase Medical Marijuana

Almost 500 patients suffering intractable pain have registered to buy medical marijuana beginning Monday.

Minnesota residents with a variety of serious conditions have been buying medical marijuana for more than a year. This Monday marks a new chapter in Minnesota’s medical marijuana program where patients with serious pain can begin using it too.

State health officials say that 481 pain patients had

pre-registered through their doctors. State law defines intractable pain as pain that can’t be treated with other methods.

The expansion to include pain patients has been in the works for years. The Legislature directed Minnesota’s health commissioner to decide whether to add intractable pain as a qualifying condition when it legalized medical marijuana in 2014.