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Chronic Pain Patients in the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program

Minnesota’s Medical Cannabis Program is unique among the states with medical cannabis programs in that it collects data about participating patients and publishes research that adds to the growing scientific knowledge base about medical cannabis. 

A report published by the Office of Cannabis Management draws on data from patient enrollment, medical cannabis purchases, symptom and side-effect ratings at the time of each purchase, and survey results to describe the experiences of patients who qualify for one of the chronic pain-related medical conditions. 

Key takeaways 

  • Pain is the most prominent symptom treated in the Minnesota medical cannabis program. The pain-related medical conditions of patients in the program include chronic pain, intractable pain, cancer with severe pain, terminal illness with severe pain, and sickle cell disease. 
  • This study analyzed data from 9,961 patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program with a pain-related condition between March 2, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2023. 
  • Patients enrolled in the state’s medical cannabis program are finding a noticeable change in pain relief within four months of receiving medical cannabis. 
  • Among all pain-related conditions, almost one-third (31.7%) of patients experiencing moderate to severe pain at enrollment saw a meaningful reduction in pain symptoms within four months of treatment. Of those patients experiencing a meaningful reduction in pain symptoms, 49.7% of them were able to maintain the pain reduction for an additional four months after achieving it.
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