In a press conference last week, Dr. Ed Ehlinger, the Minnesota Commissioner of Health, announced the department will add post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis. Patients who suffer from PTSD and have their doctor’s certification will be eligible to sign up for a medical cannabis card beginning August 2017.

Dr. Ehlinger also announced that the department will expand the program by allowing medical cannabis topicals, including patches, lotions, creams, gels, and ointments. Topicals have been shown to be a safe form of administering medical cannabis.

Last year, intractable pain was added to the Minnesota program, significantly increasing patient participation. The program — one of the most limited in the nation — had suffered from a lack of patient participation due to few qualifying conditions. The Commissioner reviewed a total of nine petitions requesting program expansion. While MPP wishes they had all been adopted, adding PTSD will help many hundreds of patients and is a significant victory.