Medical Cannabis Program Key Dates
August 1, 2016
- Patients certified for having intractable pain become eligible to receive medical cannabis.
July 1, 2016
- Health care practitioners to begin certifying patients with intractable pain conditions in program registry.
January 1, 2016
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to report findings regarding the need for adding intractable pain to the list of qualifying medical conditions.
July 1, 2015
- Medical cannabis products become available to patients on the state registry. NOTE: There is a provision in the law for one six-month extension of the deadline if a manufacturer indicates it will not be able to provide medical cannabis products by this deadline.
June 1, 2015
- Applications accepted by individuals seeking to be registered patients or designated caregiver.
March 2015
- All personnel hired for Office of Medical Cannabis.
Late Winter/Early Spring 2015
- Outreach and education efforts to potential patients and providers initiated (if you want a speaker to address your group about the Medical Cannabis program, please submit your request to health.cannabis@state.mn.us
February 1, 2015
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to complete a report on the design and implementation of the registry program.
January 15, 2015
- Deadline for the commissioners of state departments impacted by the medical cannabis therapeutic research study to report on the costs incurred by each department.
January 1, 2015
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to publish notice of proposed rules in State Register.
December 1, 2014
- Commissioner of Health registers two in-state manufacturers for production of medical cannabis products in Minnesota (if Commissioner has not previously determined that federal sourcing is a viable alternative). NOTE: The Commissioner may request one six-month extension of this deadline if it becomes necessary due to difficulties in finding and registering a manufacturer.
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to begin reporting to patients on:
- Existing medical and scientific literature regarding the range of recommended dosages for each qualifying condition.
- Range of chemical compositions of any plant of the genus cannabis that will likely be medically beneficial for each of the qualifying medical condition.
November 1, 2014
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to inform public and medical cannabis task force whether state will be able to register a manufacturer by the December 1, 2014, deadline.
Early October 2014
- Official notice of formal rulemaking published (rules intended to cover renewal period, manufacturer operations starting December 1, 2015, patient and provider obligations)
- Hiring of initial staff for Office of Medical Cannabis completed (Director, Research Director, Operations Supervisor, Policy Analyst and Administrative Assistant).
October 3, 2014
- Deadline for manufacturer applications.
September 19, 2014
- Letter of Intent to Apply due for manufacturers seeking registration.
The Minnesota Department of Health is not able to share the list of the companies who have submitted a Letter of Intent to Apply. Section 152.25, subdivision 1, paragraph (c) of the Minnesota statute directs the Department to treat all data submitted as part of the application process as private until the manufacturers are registered.
“Data submitted during the application process are private data on individuals or nonpublic data as defined in section 13.02 until the manufacturer is registered under this section. Data on a manufacturer that is registered are public data, unless the data are trade secret or security information under section 13.37.”
The application process began on September 5, 2014 when the final version of the Request of Applications was published and will be completed when the two manufacturers are registered in December 2015.
September 5, 2014
- MDH releases request for applications to become a state-certified medical cannabis manufacturer.
- Official notice of expedited manufacturer rules released (rules intended to govern manufacturer operations from December 1, 2014, to November 30, 2015). The effective date of the expedited rules will depend on Office of Administrative Hearing review.
August 8, 2014
- MDH hosts meeting of individuals/groups interested in participating in medical cannabis manufacturing process.
August 1, 2014
- MDH releases an initial draft of manufacturer rules and the "Request for Applications" for public comment. The "Request for Applications" is the process by which potential manufacturers will apply to be selected for registration by MDH.
- Deadline for Commissioner of Health to determine whether an adequate supply of federally sourced medical cannabis may be available, thereby removing the need for in-state manufacturing of medical cannabis for 2015.
July 31, 2014
- First meeting of the task force on medical cannabis research.
July 10, 2014
- Members of state's task force on medical cannabis therapeutic research appointed by legislature and Governor.
June 2014
- MDH starts hiring personnel for Office of Medical Cannabis. See the About the Office of Medical Cannabis for openings.
May 29, 2014
- Medical cannabis legislation signed into law
651-201-5000 Phone
888-345-0823 Toll-free
Information on this website is available in alternative formats upon request.
