I believe that a simple, straight-forward, accurate, and safe method to administer medication to patients without inhalation will revolutionize North Dakota’s program.
By Michael Achterling, North Dakota Monitor
North Dakota’s Medical Marijuana Program will be changing on August 1, allowing patients to have more access to the program and more options.
The North Dakota Legislature passed a series of bills during the 2025 legislative session that changed the state’s medical marijuana laws. The new changes will allow for low-dose THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) edibles to be sold at medical dispensaries. Patients will be able to access the medical cannabis program longer before they need to renew.
House Bill 1203 will allow THC edible products to be included in the state’s medical marijuana program. These products are square-shaped, hard or soft lozenges that must contain less than 5 milligrams THC in each serving. The new law will not allow other food or beverages that contain THC.
Jake Mittelsteadt said the law that allows patients to purchase edibles from a medical cannabis dispensary, Pure Dakota Health in Bismarck could have a major impact on how they do business.
Mittelsteadt explained that “since the first day of this program the people who joined, came to the state and everyone, in particular the older demographics had always prioritized gummies or edibles.”
Patients prefer edibles over other oral products like tinctures and capsules.
Mittelsteadt stated that “having something simple, straight-forward, accurate, and safe we can offer to patients in the form of a method other than inhalation will, to my mind, revolutionize our program in North Dakota.”
The edibles, like all the medical marijuana products in North Dakota, will be produced and processed there. Since production cannot begin before August 1, he believes the new edibles will be in the dispensaries at the end of the month or beginning of September.
The changes were not welcomed by all.
Stephanie Engebretson spoke out against the edibles law on behalf of Chiefs of Police Association of North Dakota. According to her, edibles contain the most THC and are likely to be consumed by children. Also, edibles can take longer to produce an effect and could lead some users to use more.
The organization has suggested that the bill is amended so edible products are stored in locked areas when there are children present. They also suggest that the product’s flavoring be removed to prevent children from discovering a taste they like.
The final legislation did not include any of these suggestions.
Rep. Steve Vetter of Grand Forks is the chief sponsor for the bill that allows edibles. He was elected into the Legislature at the same time as the Medical Marijuana Program ballot measure which passed with 64 per cent of votes statewide. He said that during the campaign, North Dakotans expressed their interest in edible products.
Vetter added that this is an issue of greater importance for elderly people. Vetter said that edible products have a different reaction in the body than other delivery methods and are beneficial to certain ailments like chronic pain.
The bill also allows tele-health professionals to assist patients in qualifying their illness to receive a medical cannabis card during the initial appointment. More than two dozen debilitating illnesses qualify for the medical cannabis program under state law.
Mittelsteadt believes that removing in-person visits will enable more patients to access the medical marijuana program. Prior to this, patients could use telehealth appointments only to renew their medical marijuana cards.
He added that the telehealth solution is crucial because certain North Dakota providers of health care have refused chronic condition documentation so patients can obtain their cards. He said there are no Williston health care providers willing to help patients obtain medical marijuana cards. Watford City is the nearest health care provider in north-west North Dakota willing to help potential patients obtain a medical cannabis card, said Mittelsteadt.
The people became more comfortable over the years. [the program],” Mittelsteadt said. It has been a huge pain for us as well as for the North Dakota patients.”
Jason Wahl, Director of the Medical Marijuana Program for the Department of Health and Human Services said that the state could not force the health care providers involved in the application process to take part.
It is up to the health care provider. It is not the responsibility of the Department to decide what to do.
Another new law, Senate Bill 2294, will change the expiration dates of medical marijuana cards from one-year to two-year terms.
Vetter noted that North Dakota lawmakers must continue to watch the recreational cannabis market in Montana and Minnesota to ensure its stability.
He said, “This was the driving force behind this decision. If we didn’t keep them open, we would have a lot of people who break the law.”
Mittelsteadt stated that Pure Dakota Health retail stores are located in Williston as well as Bismarck, and Fargo. However, the Williston store has seen a decrease in foot traffic in the past year.
We are located in Williston, which is close to many of the local amenities. [Montana] He said that there was some competition in the border area. He said, “But here in Bismarck we have definitely seen an increase in the number of patients over the past year.”
According to the 2024 North Dakota medical marijuana annual report, more than 10,000 medical marijuana patient cards were issued by the state last year, including dozens of caregivers who are able to purchase medical marijuana for their patients who may not be able to go to a dispensary.
Wahl stated that “while there has been growth in the number of registered and qualified patients, this growth has really leveled out a bit ago.”
After an initial allocation of funds by the Legislature to set up their offices during the 2017-19 biennium, Wahl stated that the budget for the medical marijuana program has been covered entirely by permit and application fees.
North Dakota’s medical marijuana laws became law in 2017. By 2020, medical cannabis dispensaries had raked in $6.4 million. In the two following years, sales tripled to reach $20 million. They have since stabilized at $22.4 millions.
North Dakota only allows two retail dispensaries, and no more than eight manufacturing or processing plants.
Another bill set to take effect in August, Senate Bill 2293, will set the maximum container size for THC concentrate at 1 gram. This bill allows people who can’t receive North Dakota Identification Cards due to medical conditions to apply for the Medical Marijuana Program by submitting other documentation.
Mittelsteadt said that North Dakota’s 2025 legislative session marked a major step towards preserving its medical marijuana program.
“This most recent legislative session has been the most promising, in terms of them saying, ‘Let’s do something to actually benefit the patients and actually benefit the program,'” Mittelsteadt said. Let’s continue to run with it. Listen to the feedback from the patients, listen to the feedback from the industry…just using common sense when we’re looking at this is going to be vital.”
The original publication of this story is North Dakota Monitor.
Image courtesy Pexels/Kindel Media.