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Armed with stories from patients whose lives have turned around after using medical marijuana, the state's companies who cultivate and sell the medications are hoping to counter the longstanding stigma that still surrounds Minnesota's newest medicine.

The medical community's unease has not abated since Minnesota's program launched nearly six months ago, even though the state has said repeatedly that the drug is a regulated medicine.

That hesitation kept a doctor's approval out of Jess Blake's reach for weeks. And it's a factor in why Sarah Wellington, David Dailey and others can't take their medication to ease painful muscle spasms while at work.

Medical marijuana in Minnesota


Minnesota's two medical marijuana manufacturers say they're upping their outreach efforts to the medical community and would-be patients who are unaware that the drug is an option-- both moves crucial for when the state extends the possibility to use marijuana to thousands of patients suffering from intractable pain next summer. Experiences like Marguerite Norton Furlong's, who is back to traveling for work and cheering on her four children at track meets after being largely homebound by her Crohn's disease and muscle spasms, will figure prominently in their pitch.

"With time, it's hard to ignore so many patients and so many stories," Laura Bultman, chief medical officer at the manufacturer Minnesota Medical Solutions.

Sales of medical marijuana pills, oils and vapors started in July.

Blake, Wellington, Dailey and other patients sang medical marijuana's praises at Minnesota Medical Solution's Minneapolis patient center Monday, and touched on troubles, like the hurdles to get signed up and high costs for a month's supply.

Blake lived in a fog as she battled a cancerous brain tumor, unable to think clearly or care for herself. She calls the days before getting medical marijuana this summer her "dark days." Now, she's aiming to return to work as middle school teacher -- once an impractical though. Friends now visit her in Duluth to spend time together, not to take care of her.

"She said, 'You have your Jess-ness back,'" Blake recounted one friend telling her.

Blake is far from the only patient who struggled to get certified for medical marijuana by doctors, many of whom have expressed concern about the lack of clear research on the drug's efficacy, side effects and proper dosages. Bultman and others have pegged wary physicians as a factor behind lackluster enrollment: Less than 850 were enrolled as of Sunday.

The Minnesota Medical Association, the state's trade group for physicians, referenced some of that skepticism when they expressed reservations about the state's decision earlier this month to add intractable pain as a qualifying condition.

"Significant questions about the efficacy of medical cannabis remain and we continue to call for additional well-controlled studies," the group said in a statement.

It's unclear how that number will grow with the expansion of the program scheduled for August.

"We learned you can't just build it and they will come," said Manny Munson-Regala, chief executive of the state's second manufacturer, LeafLine Labs.

Bultman said Minnesota Minnesota Medical Solutions is contacting clinics and hospital systems where patients have reported issues getting certified, trying to shed more light on their business and assuage concerns. The company is also scheduling meetings and presentations with treatment foundations, physicians' organizations and directly with doctors to

To alert potential patients, Munson-Regala said his company is reaching out through patient support organizations and leveraging social media. He's also toying with the idea of advertising.

"I think we're going to learn a lot about what works to connect with patients and providers," he said.

Health

Kyle Potter, Associated Press

Author

The medical community's unease has not abated since Minnesota's medical marijuana program launched nearly six months ago, even though the state has said repeatedly that the drug is a regulated medicine.

Doctors are target of Minn. medical marijuana outreach effort

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