Pubdate: Sat, 03 May 2014
Source: Albert Lea Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2014 Associated Press
Contact: http://www.albertleatribune.com/submitletter/
Website: http://www.albertleatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3521

MINNESOTA MEDICAL POT BILL MOVES AHEAD DESPITE RIFT

ST. PAUL (AP) - A rift among Minnesota supporters of legalizing 
medical marijuana could make it harder to get legislation in front of 
Gov. Mark Dayton this year.

Committees in both the House and Senate were debating competing 
legislation Friday. A Senate panel stripped the option of smoking 
marijuana as medication from its bill on Friday morning. But the 
House version is even more limited in how the drug may be accessed. 
If used in leaf form, for example, it could be done only through 
medically supervised delivery by vaporizer.

All 21 states, and the District of Columbia, which have legalized 
medical marijuana, permit smoking the drug.

A House rules panel approved Hibbing Democrat Rep. Carly Melin's bill 
Friday afternoon. The legislation next goes to the House Ways and 
Means Committee. State law enforcement officials have said they won't 
oppose the measure.

"I'm here to support whatever they're asking for to get more access 
to the plant," said Paige Figi, 40, of Colorado Springs, Colo., 
during her hearing testimony. Figi's daughter Charlotte, 7, is the 
girl after whom the medical-marijuana strain "Charlotte's Web" is 
named. Charlotte suffers from an intractable form of epilepsy. 
Medical marijuana has significantly reduced her symptoms, Figi said.

But Heather Azzi, director of a group that has pushed for legalized 
medical marijuana, said Melin's legislation is unconstitutional 
because it would require a state employee to provide marijuana to 
patients in violation of federal law. Azzi, who has worked to craft 
legislation in other states, also said it is illegal because it would 
allow doctors to tell patients where to get medical marijuana.

Azzi's group favors legalization with fewer restrictions.

Melin did not inform several medical-marijuana supporters of her plan 
to announce new legislation on Thursday, activists said.

And, once they found out, Melin sequestered them in a room at the 
Capitol forbidding them to speak to other parents of children 
suffering from maladies that they believe marijuana could treat, said 
Azzi and several omitted parents.

Melin denied sequestering activists, calling the accusation "absurd." 
She said she knew some proponents would be unhappy with her proposed 
compromise and made a point of calling them beforehand but couldn't 
reach everyone.

"So the lobbyists didn't know, but I certainly wasn't trying to hide 
anything from patients," Melin said.

Azzi has been a key ally of Melin's and Sen. Scott Dibble, 
DFL-Minneapolis, who sponsors that chamber's bill. She has assisted 
both in the drafting of several versions of medical-marijuana legislation.

"My reaction was shock," Azzi said of Melin's actions. "She was my 
lead author and I trusted her."

Interviewed after the House hearing, Melin said she didn't think she 
excluded anyone.

"I tried to reach as many parents as I could, but I couldn't reach 
them all," Melin said.

By Friday afternoon, some parents who had been upset with Melin's 
brush-off had reunited under the banner of providing 
medical-marijuana to suffering patients who need it.

"We support both bills in the House and Senate," said Jessica Hauser, 
36, of Woodbury. Hauser's son Wyatt, 2, suffers from intractable 
epilepsy. "We don't want to be divided on this issue. All we want to 
do is help patients.

Melin's bill would allow children and adults suffering from severe 
illnesses to use medical marijuana, with the option of a state source 
for the drug if no federal source is available.

Law-enforcement officials worry that allowing people to smoke the 
plant would result in wider distribution and use of the illegal drug. 
Dayton has said he would not support a bill that does not have the 
endorsement of law enforcement.

Dibble reluctantly offered to remove smoking as an option to appease 
opponents during the Friday morning Health and Human Services 
Division of a Senate Committee on Finance hearing.

"I'm not thrilled by these changes," Dibble said during a question- 
and-answer period. "But they are protecting the main goals and values 
of the legislation, which is to get more people access to medical marijuana."

Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, agreed.

"I'm disappointed," she said during the hearing. "You are being respectful."

Dibble's bill would allow patients to use a marijuana vaporizer 
without supervision to treat their maladies. It also would allow 
marijuana extracts in pill form and oils from the plant manufactured 
by alternative treatment centers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom