ND medical cannabis market inches onward as state hands out first patient cards

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North Dakota has begun issuing medical marijuana cards to patients and caregivers, which marks another step forward as the state has spent nearly two years setting up a regulated distribution system for the MMJ market.

Voters in the state approved medical cannabis in November 2016.

Here are the basics surrounding the situation:

  • North Dakota’s health department this week issued 70 medical marijuana cards, and the state estimates as many as 4,000 people will be using MMJ there by summer 2021.
  • Medical cannabis could become available in eastern North Dakota within a few weeks, with dispensaries operating statewide by early fall.
  • Officials last year selected companies to implement a monitoring system and to perform laboratory testing, registered manufacturing facilities in Bismarck and Fargo and, in late October, began accepting applications from potential patients and designated caregivers.
  • The state last year also picked companies to open dispensaries in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Williston. It expects to begin taking applications later this month for dispensaries in Devils Lake, Dickinson, Jamestown and Minot.

– Associated Press