Minnesota's medical marijuana suppliers to open in July

Dr. Kyle Kingsley
Dr. Kyle Kingsley is an emergency room physician who will be CEO of Minnesota Medical Solutions, one of two firms selected to make and distribute medical marijuana.
Tim Nelson | MPR News

The first provider for medical marijuana in Minnesota will be ready to supply patients on July 1.

Kyle Kingsley, executive director of Minnesota Medical Solutions, said his company's dispensaries will be open in Rochester, Moorhead, Eden Prairie and Minneapolis.

The company is the state's biggest initial provider of medical marijuana. Kingsley said its growing operation in Otsego is up to capacity.

"We've done quite a few harvests. We're up to four or five harvests a week now and we've been running at capacity for two to three weeks," he said. "Essentially, we just need to refine our packaging. We need to fine tune our formulations, and we have about two months to do that. So we're very comfortable with where we're at, from a science formulation standpoint."

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Patients won't get a prescription. Instead, they'll be certified as eligible by their doctors and registered with the state health department. They will have to work out their plan to use the medical marijuana with the suppliers.

Kingsley said his company aims to keep the supply affordable, at $300 to $500 a month for patients, depending on their use.

"We're trying to figure out exactly what that price point for us is," he said. "Again, this has to be a viable business if we're going to continue to provide medicine for patients."

Another company, Leafline Labs in Cottage Grove, also is growing marijuana for patients registered with the state. It expects to open a dispensary in Eagan in July.