North Dakota House Passes Bills Expanding Medical Cannabis Program
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]N[/dropcap]orth Dakota House lawmakers passed four bills last week to expand the state’s medical cannabis law. The bills now move to the Senate for consideration.
One bill, House Bill 1519 would add 13 new medical conditions that would qualify for the medical cannabis program, including anxiety disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and migraines. The bill also includes a study to examine the list of conditions and whether more conditions should be added or removed.
“Some of these conditions might seem odd to include, but I want to make it clear that they were vetted carefully and cross-referenced with other states for uniformity. They weren’t picked from a hat, and each and every one of them was reviewed by the Division of Medical Marijuana and the Attorney General’s office, as well,” Representative Matthew Ruby, member of the House Human Services Committee said.
House Bill 1283 amends the definition of a health care provider to include a physician assistant. The current law states only a physician or registered nurse can recommend medical cannabis. House Bill 1417 would allow qualifying patients or caregivers to purchase a higher amount of medical cannabis. Currently, patients are allowed to purchase up to 2.5 ounces of medical cannabis flower in a 30-day period. Under the new bill, qualifying patients would be allowed to purchase up to six ounces within the 30-day period.
The fourth bill passed, House Bill 1364, would add cannabis-infused edibles to the list of medical cannabis products available for purchase. Under the bill, the maximum amount of THC allowed in an edible product is five milligrams, and the maximum amount of servings in a package would be no more than 10. North Dakota joins other states like Washington in banning products that appeal to minors, such as gummy bears.
Not all cannabis laws being introduced in North Dakota have passed, however. The North Dakota House recently rejected a bill that would have decriminalized low-level cannabis possession in the state.
