Minnesota to name medical pot makers Monday

Medical marijuana oil
In this Feb. 7, 2014 file photo, Aileen Burger loads an oral syringe with cannabis-infused oil used to treat her 4-year-old daughter Elizabeth, who suffers from severe epilepsy, at her home in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Brennan Linsley/AP

Minnesota officials will take a significant step Monday toward supplying medical marijuana to people qualified to purchase it.

The state's Department of Health will introduce medical marijuana manufacturers at an 8:30 a.m. news conference in St. Paul.

By law, two manufacturers will be permitted to grow, process the marijuana into pill or liquid form and distribute through eight sites throughout the state. Registered patients may be able to buy medical cannabis starting July 1, unless the manufacturers need an extension of that deadline.

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Twelve applicants each paid a $20,000 non-refundable fee to be considered.

Monday also is the deadline for Minnesota's health commissioner to begin reporting to patients the recommended dosages for each condition specified by the law, as well as the chemical compositions of different cannabis plants for each of the conditions.

Qualifying conditions include cancer, seizures, ALS and HIV/AIDS.

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