A few days before Iowa’s new medical marijuana law takes effect, a Minnesota cannabis producer says his business is not yet profitable two years into that state’s program. The two states have similar medical cannabis laws, but Iowa’s is more restrictive.
Iowa’s new law will allow for two medical cannabis manufacturers and five dispensaries in the state.
Dr. Andrew Bachman, the CEO of Leafline Labs, says Minnesota’s law creates a more sustainable business climate, in part because Iowa’s law limits the THC content of medical cannabis.
"Not only does Minnesota have almost twice the size of population, we also do not have limitations in what we can create as medicine here in Minnesota. So it ends up being a much broader program in that regard," he says.
During this hour of River to River, Bachmann talks with host Ben Kieffer.
We also hear from Sally Gaer, who has a 27 year old daughter with epilepsy and is a patient under Iowa's medical cannabis program, and Katie Krug, who lives with ulcerative colitis and will not benefit from Iowa's expanded medical cannabis program. Robert Mikos, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, also joins the conversation.
