Pubdate: Fri, 09 May 2014
Source: West Central Tribune (Willmar, MN)
Copyright: 2014 Forum Communications Company
Contact:  http://www.wctrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/542
Author: Don Davis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MINNESOTA HOUSE OKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

ST. PAUL -- Medical marijuana is a couple of steps away from being 
allowed in Minnesota.

The House late this afternoon approved a slimmed down measure in 
86-39 vote. Senators passed their broader bill 48-18 Tuesday. The two 
bills likely will head to House-Senate negotiators to craft a measure 
Gov. Mark Dayton can sign.

Dayton says he needs to know more about the House bill before he can 
say if he could sign it. The Senate measure, which law enforcement 
leaders oppose, allows far more marijuana distribution centers and 
other provisions Dayton and police cannot accept.

Sick Minnesotans, like those filling the House gallery, are why Rep. 
Carly Melin, D-Hibbing, has pushed the medical marijuana bill for a year.

"Minnesotans want their children and their loved ones to have access 
to medicine in Minnesota that can help improve their quality of 
life," Melin told fellow representatives.

Many Minnesotans have gone to states like Colorado, where medical 
marijuana already is legal. Others say they will leave if the measure 
is not enacted this year.

"They can't wait any longer..." Melin said. "These families cannot 
wait another year."

But critics said Melin goes too far.

"Many of us, on both sides of the aisle, are very skeptical of this," 
Rep. Mike Benson, R-Rochester, said. "To say we are not compassionate 
about it is incorrect and it is wrong. It is a question about whether 
we are doing what is best."

Saying he might have been able to support a bill that established a 
real medical study, Benson added that doctors -- not politicians -- 
should make medical decisions.

The Melin bill allows doctors to approve some patients to use 
compounds made from marijuana. The House bill, like the one senators 
passed, does not allow smoking marijuana. The House bill allows the 
use of liquid and pills derived from the plant. Liquid could be 
vaporized to treat a patient.

Conditions that could be treated by medical marijuana would include 
seizures, post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple sclerosis, extreme 
pain and glaucoma.

Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, urged representatives to adopt the 
Senate bill because it would save money, allow marijuana to be 
available in more places and help more people. His attempt failed 97-28.

Rep. Jim Davnie, D-Minneapolis, said that if the House accepted the 
Senate bill, it would kill the concept for the year because Dayton 
would not sign it.

"Politics is the art of the possible," he said.

Dayton has said he will sign the bill only if it has law enforcement 
and medical organizations' support. The Senate bill does not. Law 
enforcement appears to be neutral on the House bill, which has some 
medical groups' backing.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom