Pubdate: Mon, 12 May 2014
Source: Bemidji Pioneer (MN)
Copyright: 2014 Forum Communications Co.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/c267ikFs
Website: http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4739
Author: Don Davis

MEDICAL MARIJUANA'S FUTURE IS FOGGY IN MINNESOTA

ST. PAUL -- How attempts to legalize marijuana will proceed remained 
unclear Monday.

House and Senate authors continued to oppose the other's bill after 
they discussed how to proceed. Both chambers overwhelmingly passed 
medical marijuana bills last week.

Rep. Carly Melin, D-Hibbing, said that her goal is to get a bill 
passed so Minnesota patients can use the benefits of marijuana. The 
House passed a bill that would help fewer people and provides fewer 
places where marijuana could be picked up.

Gov. Mark Dayton says he likes the House version better and appears 
likely to veto a bill similar to the Senate one.

Sen. Scott Dibble, D-Minneapolis, said his bill has more security and 
is better for Minnesotans, even though police and medical 
organizations, as well as Dayton, oppose it.

"We will reach out to the Senate," Dayton said.

The governor said that even though neither bill allows marijuana 
smoking, the Senate version would give 2.5 ounces of the plant to 
patients. He said people who get the marijuana could smoke it, even 
if it were illegal, or sell it and make a profit.

The House bill only allows for three places where Minnesotans could 
buy marijuana. The Senate version offers 55 locations, but Dibble 
said he is willing to lower that to 24.

Dayton said he would expect some distribution centers in rural areas 
to lose money, perhaps forcing them to operate in deficits.

Dibble said his bill contains stricter public safety measures than 
the Melin version.

During the weekend, Dibble sent a letter expressing "very serious 
concerns with the House proposal that may prove it to be inadequate 
and unworkable."

He added that he thinks "a middle ground exists," but on Monday he 
could not say how a compromise would look. Neither did Melin.

"We are just going to continue discussions to see where we land in 
the next couple of days," Melin said.

The Legislature can pass bills only through Sunday before it runs up 
against the state constitutional deadline to quit for the year.

Melin said she does not want to wait a year to get a better bill. She 
prefers to get a bill passed quickly so children and others who could 
benefit from medical marijuana can get help.

"Maybe Sen. Dibble's bill, in his view, is a better bill," she said. 
"But just because it is a better bill doesn't mean it will become law."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom