A medical cannabis company in the state of Minnesota has been working on a new modified strain that they hope will drive the price down for consumers. Minnesota Medical Solutions announced Wednesday that they have bred a new line of high cannabinoid (CBD) cannabis.
The intent of this new strain is to help the refining process become cheaper and quicker. With the medicinal properties of CBD becoming more well known, the demand for CBD products is growing dramatically.
Entire families are packing up and leaving their home state in order to receive the medicinal benefits offered elsewhere. It is inevitable that some companies will try to modify cannabis in order to get costs down so that the overwhelming demand can be satisfied. According to Minnesota Medical CEO Dr. Kyle Kingsley, “This is potentially a huge cost saver.”
Leafline Labs is a fellow medical cannabis producer in the state, and they too have produced a similar high-CBD strain. CEO Mandy Munson-Regala says that this new strain named “Amelia,” after a young patient, averages a 33-1 ratio of CBD and is currently in production.
The medical cannabis system in the state has had problems of overpriced goods and slow enrolment into the program. This system has only been around since early July, but next summer the state intends to extend the program to a greater number of patients.
For now, the high-CBD products are some of the most pricey items offered at the three Minnesota dispensaries. Patients looking for high-CBD products currently pay anywhere from $200 per month up to $1,000 and more, which is not included in health insurance, so customers must foot this bill all on their own.
Kingsley expects a price drop of about 10 percent as a result of the company’s refining process. The new strain, called “Katelyn Faith,” supposedly has a higher CBD content than the “Charlotte’s Web” strain, which has gained fame in Colorado as one of the products so many families have moved there for specifically.
The company that produces “Charlotte’s Web,” CW Botanicals, does not agree with the claims made by Minnesota Medicals Solutions. Ryan Kingsbury from CW Botanicals said,
“We often hear from groups claiming superior genetics. What those groups don’t have is our commitment to quality, purity, safety and social responsibility, which are unmatched by anyone in the industry. We are proud when companies such as this one use our Charlotte’s Web brand as a benchmark for excellent.”
The free-market solution to the high costs of CBD products is not being allowed to truly play out, and it is unclear what the long term effects will be of modifying cannabis the way these Minnesota companies are doing it.