Pubdate: Tue, 13 May 2014
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2014 Star Tribune
Contact: http://www.startribunecompany.com/143
Website: http://www.startribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/266
Author: Patrick Condon

MARIJUANA BILL BACKER MAY SEE POLITICAL FUTURE GO UP IN SMOKE

Carly Melin, the young state representative at the center of a
high-profile push to legalize medical marijuana in Minnesota, likens
her lawmaking style to a treasured T-shirt that belonged to her late
grandmother and political inspiration.

"It said, 'I'm not opinionated, I'm just always right,' " said
Melin, a 28-year-old lawyer from Hibbing. "Sometimes, unfortunately, I
get that mentality as well, and I probably inherited it from her."

This session, Melin's pursuit of her ideals on medical marijuana
policy is bumping up against the issue's tricky legal and political
terrain. Gov. Mark Dayton, a fellow DFLer, has been a tough sell on
medical marijuana, forcing Melin to offer a compromise that one-time
allies in the cause saw as a betrayal.

Melin has only been in the House since 2011 but quickly established
herself as a Capitol player. Even as she deals with the impending
birth of her first child at the end of June, Melin has juggled the
medical marijuana bill with other high-profile tasks, including
leading the House on a high-profile bill to level the state's economic
playing field for women.

Dayton wound up signing that bill, the Women's Economic Security Act,
on Mother's Day.

The first woman elected to represent Minnesota's politically important
Iron Range in the Legislature since the 1980s, Melin has generated
buzz as a rising star for Democrats. Colleagues see her on a fast
track that could culminate in House leadership or higher office.

But first, Melin must try to bring the explosive medical marijuana
proposal to the -finish line in the session's closing days.

"It sometimes is good to be paid attention to, but there are
drawbacks. Folks will be gunning for you too, and all of a sudden
you're under the microscope," said Tony Sertich, a former House
majority leader - also from Hibbing - and a political mentor to Melin.

"It takes a lot more out of you personally than you realize going into
it," Sertich said, "But that's the way folks learn to be a good
legislator."

Sertich gave Melin her first Capitol job, as a legislative intern when
she was still a law student at Hamline University.

When Dayton appointed Sertich to lead the Iron Range Resources and
Rehabilitation Board in early 2011, Melin beat a field of four other
Democrats to succeed him.

Politics run strongly through the Melin family tree. Her
great-grandfather was a Beltrami County commissioner who made family
history the day he met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the
White House. One grandmother was a school board member in the 1950s,
the other a DFL activist. Melin's mother, a recently retiredsocial
worker in Hibbing, has long been active in politics as a member of the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, one of
the more powerful unions in the state.

"There was certainly a family interest in it, which she probably
absorbed, but it was never a plan for her," Nancy Melin said of her
daughter.

As an undergraduate at Bemidji State University, Melin first pursued a
social work career before gravitating to law school. Melin got
involved in campus Democratic groups at Bemidji State and Hamline, and
started to see the possibilities of a political career.

"She said she wasn't interested in trying to interpret bad law," Nancy
Melin said. "She wanted to be instrumental in changing laws that
needed to be changed. She got on her own path, and there she is."

An experienced hunter with a flat northern Minnesota twang to her
voice, Melin has an older brother who is a police officer in Eveleth.
Her father, Mike, a retired police officer and law enforcement
instructor, calls her "my country girl."

Medical marijuana

Melin got involved in the medical marijuana issue after she was
contacted by Angie Weaver, a Hibbing mother whose daughter Amelia has
a rare form of epilepsy that causes rampant seizures.

Parents who want the option of treating their seizure-prone children
with a cannabis-based oil have been among the loudest advocates for
medical marijuana.

As Melin initially pushed for a broader medical marijuana proposal,
she frequently criticized law enforcement lobbyists fighting the bill.
At one point she suggested police and prosecutor groups opposed
medical marijuana because they would lose financial benefits that come
with drug forfeiture laws.

"I grew up with law enforcement. All my dad's friends were cops,"
Melin said. "I've always known, and I still believe it to be true,
that law enforcement officers are very reasonable and honorable people."

But Melin raised eyebrows even among fellow Democrats when she
appeared at a news conference in late March where medical marijuana
advocates unleashed a torrent of criticism against Dayton. Several
mothers of sick children said the governor advised them during a
private meeting to buy marijuana on the street, a charge the governor
denied. Melin stood by silently.

"I think that one got a little out of control, and I think Rep. Melin
and the governor would both have wished that hadn't taken place," said
Rep. Tom Anzelc, a fellow Iron Range Democrat.

Asked now about the controversy, Melin says only that "I wasn't in
that meeting," referring to Dayton's meeting with the advocates.

After that news conference, Melin retreated from talking publicly
about medical marijuana for nearly a month. During that time the
Senate took up its more expansive bill. Meanwhile, Melin met with
House leaders to quietly retool her proposal.

With House Speaker Paul Thissen and Majority Leader Erin Murphy at her
side, Melin in early May unveiled a scaled-back proposal that won
quick backing from law enforcement groups, but angered many
pro-medical marijuana activists. Melin admitted she would have liked
to go further but said it would have cost her the governor's support.

"She basically wants to have it both ways," said Sally Jo Sorensen, a
liberal blogger and medical marijuana supporter who has been heavily
critical of Melin on social media. "It's like she wanted to be seen as
courageously defying law enforcement, but in the end she did their
bidding. I think that's where a lot of the ire is coming from."

The House and Senate now have widely different bills: The Senate's
plan would have the drug available at up to 55 dispensaries statewide
for a broad number of ailments, including intractable pain. Melin's
proposal limits availability to those who qualify for "observational
research," with fewer eligible conditions and only three distribution
sites statewide.

Dayton has signed onto Melin's bill. DFL Sen. Scott Dibble, sponsor of
the Senate bill, wrote in a weekend letter to Melin and Dayton that
the House bill "falls short in a number of ways." But he said Monday
he's open to a final medical marijuana bill that incorporates aspects
of both the House and Senate proposals, and said he'd be willing to
see the number of dispensaries drop.

"If you want a friend in politics, get a dog. Sums up my past week,"
Melin tweeted last week. Her dog, Oscar, is named after her late
great-grandfather Oscar Thyren, the county commissioner. It's a quirky
Melin family tradition to name dogs after deceased family members.

While Melin offers glimpses of personality on social media, in public
settings she typically is no-nonsense. Anzelc said she has succeeded
without adopting the backslapping, glad-handing approach common to
many Iron Range politicians.

"She'd rather talk about the intricacies of the taconite production
tax than how many fish you caught," Anzelc said.

Four decades Melin's senior, Anzelc said he quickly learned to get a
read on Melin's mood before cracking wise at her expense.

"If she's not in the right frame of mind, it's going to go over like a
lead balloon. Believe me," said Anzelc. "You'll see no smile."

Melin's first child is due on June 29, right as campaign seasons heats
up. She's running for re-election, and is already thinking about how
to balance a political career with a young family.

"I think it'll be tricky, trying to figure out how to make it all
work," Melin said. "But I'll make it work."
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MAP posted-by: Matt