St. Paul, Minnesota: Sensible Minnesota is holding a press conference on Monday, November 18, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. in the Capitol press conference room, B971, to call on Health Commissioner Malcolm and Governor Walz to approve chronic pain as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis.

Senator Melisa Franzen (D-Edina), along with several organizations will be at the press conference joining this call to action:

  • United Food and Commercial Workers Union 1189, which represents workers at one of Minnesota’s medical cannabis manufacturers;
  • Minnesota Veterans for Cannabis, a non-profit organization founded and run by military veterans passionate about access to medical cannabis for their brothers and sisters;
  • Republicans Against Marijuana Prohibition Minnesota, a new non-profit advocacy organization of conservatives who believe our current policies on cannabis have failed;
  • Minnesotans for Responsible Marijuana Regulation, a statewide, multi-partisan coalition spans government, industry, non-profit, and civil society, advocating for the responsible regulation of cannabis products; and
  • Sensible Change Minnesota, the political, advocacy partner of Sensible Minnesota, which seeks to promote policies that promote compassion, restorative justice, and public health at the legislature.

“The addition of Chronic Pain is really an opportunity for the Administration to take a bold step forward in improving patient access — and by increasing the patient base, improving the affordability of medical cannabis in Minnesota,” said Maren Schroeder, Policy Director for Sensible Change Minnesota.

“We urge the Governor and his administration to take bold action to address the long standing issues with Minnesota’s medical cannabis program, and there is no better way to start than by adding chronic pain to the list of qualifying conditions,” said Gunnar Aas, President of Sensible Minnesota.

The petition for the addition of Chronic Pain was led by Jared Poe, former Patient Program Director for Sensible Minnesota, and submitted to the Commissioner in late July of this year. In October, the Minnesota Department of Health took testimony from patients and community members about the petition, which was impactful and in support of the addition. The Commissioner must make her decision to approve or deny the addition on or by December 1, 2019.

Sensible Minnesota is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has provided assistance and support to medical cannabis patients since the 2015 implementation of medical cannabis in Minnesota. Previously, the organization successfully added Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Alzheimer’s Disease through the same administrative petitioning process.

Press Contact: Maren Schroeder; 507-226-3578; [email protected]