MADISON, MINN. - Minnesota mother Angela Brown, who gave her son an illegal drug that will be legal by this time next year, appeared in Lac qui Parle County court Wednesday morning, where her attorney appealed for the charges against her to be dismissed. Brown stands accused of two gross misdemeanor counts of child endangerment for giving cannabis oil to her son Trey, who suffered seizures and agonizing pain from a head injury. By July, medical marijuana will be legal in Minnesota. But since that law isn't in effect yet, the Lac qui Parle County attorney opted to prosecute Brown after an official at Trey's school tipped off child protective services. Brown is charged, not with possession of the small amount of cannabis in the dropper bottle, but of endangering her child by involving him in a drug transaction. [continues 315 words]
Minnesota's eight medical marijuana centers won't be conveniently located for many outside the Twin Cities. Minnesota has 87 counties, but you'll only be able to buy medical marijuana in eight of them. With half the state's proposed clinics clustered around the Twin Cities, gaps in the cannabis coverage map will leave some families hours away from the nearest clinic. Four marijuana distribution sites will open within 20 miles of the Twin Cities: Minneapolis, St. Paul, Eagan and Maple Grove. Four more will open outstate: St. Cloud, Hibbing, Moorhead and Rochester. The first clinics will open by July, when patients with serious, chronic or terminal illnesses can begin lining up to buy cannabis products legally. [continues 1103 words]
Minnesota's leap into the era of legal weed began with the selection last week of two companies that will grow, process and sell medical cannabis to patients. LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions proved to the state that they had the financial wherewithal, technical prowess and security procedures to do the job. But if you want to know the details, you're out of luck. Much of that information has been redacted from the companies' applications, which have been posted on the website of the state Department of Health. They're considered trade secrets, nonpublic business data or sensitive security information. Minnesota law allows the state to keep that information from us. [continues 587 words]
The State Will Reveal Two Suppliers on Monday. Next week, the Minnesota Department of Health will name the two companies it has selected to grow and refine the state's entire supply of medical marijuana. While some communities are ready to welcome new agribusinesses, others have taken steps to block marijuana outlets from setting up shop. The city of Duluth, which spent years battling a downtown head shop, just passed a six-to 12-month moratorium on any talk of zoning for medical marijuana manufacturing or dispensing facilities. The Minneapolis suburb of Richfield passed a similar moratorium in October after two different cannabis companies approached the city about setting up dispensaries there, should they get the nod from the state. [continues 618 words]
By putting "Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis" and "Legal Marijuana Now" under the names of legalization candidates, Minnesotans saw legalization on the ballot for the first time and voted for it in record numbers. Dan Vacek's plebiscite-by-proxy theory worked so well that even the monopoly media censorship of minor parties couldn't stop the voters from seeing legalization on the ballot. Vacek earned 57,602 votes for Legal Marijuana Now, spent less than $500 and outpolled better-funded, better-publicized candidates from the Independence, Green and Libertarian parties - all of whom supported marijuana legalization but didn't say so on their ballot designation. [continues 142 words]
Two years ago, we lost the vote on two vital issues: The marriage amendment and voter ID. There is another big issue lurking and, it seems to me, will be coming up in the near future. That is legalization of marijuana. It is already legal in Minnesota for medical use, and that has been a first step to further open the door to "recreational" marijuana. From information out of Colorado, it has been socially disastrous and legally chaotic. We failed to protect the future of our children and grandchildren two years ago. Don't let it happen again. Get out and vote for the conservative candidates who will support your values. It really is important. DON ENGEBRETSON, Excelsior [end]
Don't drool over the tax revenue. Know that medical cannabis is competition. Worry about edibles. Colorado and Washington state knew they were jumping into the unknown when voters legalized recreational marijuana two years ago. They just didn't know the half of it. But thanks to what we've learned from the two pioneering states, it is easier for those that follow to separate hype from hemp. The experience should not discourage other places from taking the legalization plunge but rather help them design a system that works better, a necessary step as the movement spreads. (Legalization plans are on the November ballot in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C. - and California and Nevada, among others, are likely to follow in a year or two). [continues 676 words]
It Took Four Years to Obtain Approval for One Pain Study. Within a year, patients will be lining up to buy medical marijuana legally in Minnesota. But for the state's scientists, it's still a struggle to do basic research into the plant's medicinal properties. Kalpna Gupta, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota, spent four years entangled in federal paperwork before winning approval to study whether vaporized cannabis was an effective pain relief treatment for patients with sickle cell disease. The research itself will take another four years. [continues 310 words]
Minnesota business owners say the inability of some job candidates to pass a simple drug test adds an extra burden to running a factory. Erick Ajax spent years designing a program that trains students to use the hulking machinery inside his Fridley metal stamping plant. But a troubling, pervasive trend is preventing some from ever making it to the factory floor: drug use. "In 2007, I lost 10 percent of my workforce to methamphetamine. That was just heartbreaking. It's clearly an issue and an ongoing challenge," said Ajax, who now drug tests all new hires and randomly tests his 60-person staff. [continues 1044 words]
Elk River may add a new weapon to the local war on drugs. Funding for a new drug task force detective is in the city's preliminary budget for 2015. Council members heard more about the position during a budget work session Monday and expressed some support for it. But a final decision won't be made until the budget is finalized later this year. Under the plan, the Elk River Police Department would assign an existing officer to the Sherburne County Drug Task Force as a detective, and hire a new entry-level officer to fill that vacated position. Total cost is estimated at $67,000 to $77,000. [continues 413 words]
A path Jessica Hauser never expected to be traveling is moving her and her family toward a crossroads. The journey began when the Woodbury woman's son, Wyatt, was diagnosed seven months into his young life with an epileptic condition called infantile spasms. As Hauser and her husband Jeremy learned over time, the condition would cause Wyatt to have about 200 seizures a day. "It's horrible," Jessica said of watching her son experience the seizures. "I wouldn't wish this upon anyone." [continues 940 words]
ST. PAUL -- Dr. Marshall Brinton saw the headlines after Minnesota passed a medical marijuana law, looked around at the equipment in his old veterinary laboratory and thought, "Yeah, I could do that." A retired veterinarian in Willmar, Brinton hopes to convert the lab where he once made vaccines for animals into one of Minnesota's two medical marijuana production facilities. After the long slog to legalize medical marijuana, the state's real work has begun to get the unconventional medicine in severely ill patients' hands by this time next year. Next steps range from the mundane, such as securing office space, to integral pieces, such as building a computer system to register patients and track their medication, hiring a research director to help determine dosages and placing eight dispensaries across Minnesota. [continues 593 words]
WILLMAR -- The Willmar Planning Commission will hold a public hearing at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday to consider a conditional use permit requested by retired veterinarian Dr. Marshall Brinton to allow a medical marijuana production lab/dispensary. Brinton has requested the permit to operate the production lab/dispensary in laboratory facilities he owns at 208 Lakeland Dr. S.E. The hearing will be held in the meeting room at the Willmar Fire Station, 515 Second St. S.E. City Planner Megan DeSchepper said the conditional use permit is required because medical marijuana production is not listed as a land use in any section of the city zoning ordinance. [continues 232 words]
Minnesota's new medical marijuana law is intentionally and appropriately narrow. Those who truly need the beneficial compounds in cannabis will be able to get it, not by smoking but by ingesting pills or liquid, just like other medications. The law is written tightly enough to discourage the abuse and problems seen in other states, especially those that have legalized marijuana for recreational use. That's because "disquieting new trends and statistics are proving (marijuana's) unique dangers for those most vulnerable to its effects: children," Dr. David Sack, an expert in addiction psychiatry, especially among adolescents and young adults, wrote in a commentary published last week by the Los Angeles Times. [continues 489 words]
Medical marijuana is coming to Minnesota next summer. Rather than joints or other illicit forms of the street drug, medical pot will be made into oils, vapors or pills by two Minnesota manufacturers to be chosen by the state yet this year. Those two manufacturers will set up eight distribution centers, or dispensaries, between them, spread geographically across the state to make patient access easier, said Michael Schommer, communications director with the Minnesota Department of Health. To receive the drugs, patients must be certified as having one of several medical conditions outlined in new legislation created by the Minnesota Legislature, and signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton. [continues 710 words]
The November ballot will have a handful of candidates who hope to legalize recreational marijuana in Minnesota. In November, in a number of high-profile political races, voters will be able to choose between a Democrat, a Republican and a bunch of candidates who want to legalize marijuana for everyone. Take the contest for governor. Don't expect Gov. Mark Dayton, or any of his potential Republican opponents, to back a law that would make Minnesota like Colorado or Washington, the two states where citizens in 2012 voted to decriminalize pot. It's still the rare prominent Democrat or Republican politician who will get behind a move like that, despite the growing number of states including Minnesota that now have medical marijuana laws. [continues 604 words]
Independence Party congressional candidate John Denney wants to legalize marijuana and has other libertarian views. It's one of many libertarian stances taken by Denney, a candidate in Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. Yet Denney says he's more pragmatic than some other libertarians and takes a different tack on campaign finance reform, which he champions. In April, the Independence Party endorsed Denney for the 6th District seat. He's a 28-year-old law student from Stacy who hasn't held or run for other elected offices. [continues 422 words]
Approving Medical Marijuana Was Just the First Step for Minnesota's Novel Treatment Program. Minnesota is not the first state to legalize marijuana, but it is the first to include medical research as a key requirement on its complicated and uncharted path to turning an illegal recreational drug into a treatment for illness. Now that the pitched legislative debates over whether to legalize marijuana at all are over, there is an ambitious timetable to put the new law into practice. The Minnesota Department of Health has one year to hire an administrator, choose two in-state companies who will manufacture and dispense marijuana products at up to eight locations, and draft safety guidelines for patients who are under the influence of medical cannabis. [continues 1052 words]
While the northern and southern parts of Minnesota have seen a spike in heroin-related criminal cases, Central Minnesota's drug of choice among criminals remains methamphetamine, according to local law enforcement. Stearns County saw a 35 percent increase in the number of felony drug cases filed from 2012 to 2013. Of the combined 560 adult felony drug cases filed in those two years, 11 involved heroin -- about 2 percent, according to Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall. By contrast, 214 cases, or 38 percent of the 560 total cases, involved meth, Kendall said. [continues 317 words]
The health condition isn't specified in Minnesota's new law, but it could be added in the future. A group of University of Minnesota researchers is testing to see if medical marijuana can help treat chronic pain caused by sickle cell disease, but state law is putting a hitch in their study. As researchers continue with the study's next step - conducting human trials - they're heading to California, as Minnesota doesn't allow testing cannabis on people. The state's recently passed medical marijuana law also doesn't include sickle cell disease as a qualifying medical condition, but the University's current research could play a role in how that law changes in the future. [continues 660 words]
The caramel-chocolate-flavored candy bar looked so innocent, like the Sky Bars I used to love as a child. Sitting in my hotel room in Denver, I nibbled off the end and then, when nothing happened, nibbled some more. I figured if I was reporting on the social revolution rocking Colorado in January, the giddy culmination of pot Prohibition, I should try a taste of legal, edible pot from a local shop. What could go wrong with a bite or two? [continues 839 words]
Entrepreneur Behind Proposal Driven by Child's Urgent Need MONTEVIDEO -- No sooner had Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill legalizing medical marijuana in Minnesota than Jeremy Pauling was lining up support to build the first facility to produce it in Montevideo. "I was brought up not to sit on my hands," said Pauling. There's another reason for his urgency. His seven year-old-daughter Katelyn suffers chronic seizures due to Batten Disease. It's an inherited and fatal neurological disease. [continues 725 words]
A local marijuana activist is looking to get the city of Austin to bid on hosting one of eight medical marijuana dispensaries under Minnesota's new medical marijuana law. Deanna Ryther asked the Austin City Council during its public meeting Monday to put together a committee to ask the state Department of Health to build a dispensary in Austin, citing her own need for medical marijuana as well as the high demand around the state. "It's in our best interest to look at Austin as one of those cities," she said. [continues 94 words]
The public senses - correctly - that marijuana poses fewer risks to society than alcohol does. America is rushing headlong toward legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. A growing majority - 54 percent as of a Pew survey released just last month - favor legalization, and an even larger majority of millennials (69 percent) feels the same way. Colorado and Washington are the first states to move decisively in this direction, but they won't be the last. I basically think this is an OK development. Like Mark Kleiman, a public-policy professor at UCLA who is my guru on the regulation of controlled substances, I see full commercial legalization as a truly terrible idea, while I think noncommercial legalization, ideally via monopolies owned and operated by state governments, would be an improvement over the status quo. Regardless, marijuana legalization is coming, one way or another. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division via the New York Times A New York City police official watched agents pour liquor into a sewer following a raid during the Prohibition era, around 1921. We often forget that Prohibition was a response to problems with alcohol abuse in American culture. [continues 886 words]
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota joined the ranks of 21 other states Thursday where marijuana is a legal medicine with a law that is one of the nation's most restrictive. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton signed legislation that sets up a medical marijuana program with tight controls over qualifying conditions and the way it is administered. People won't be able to smoke marijuana legally or access it in leaf form. "I pray it will bring to the victims of ravaging illnesses the relief they are hoping for," Dayton said in a written statement. [continues 165 words]
Appeals Court Rules California Card for Pot Irrelevant in Minnesota. A card that permits a person to use medical marijuana in another state can't make drug charges in Minnesota go up in smoke, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. In December 2011, Jeffrey Thiel was stopped by a state trooper in Itasca County for speeding. After the trooper smelled marijuana, two Mason jars containing the drug were found in his vehicle. Thiel was charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. [continues 502 words]
Patients Who Lobbied for the New Law Won't Participate in Test Because of Plant Marijuana Prohibition. Cassie Traun, a 24-year-old IT worker from St. Paul, went to the Capitol about a dozen times in April and May to lobby for medical marijuana. She sat before committees of lawmakers, and even confessed to buying and using the drug illegally because she's convinced it effectively treats her Crohn's disease. This week Gov. Mark Dayton is expected to sign a bill legalizing marijuana for about 5,000 Minnesotans, including sufferers of Crohn's, an inflammatory bowel disease. [continues 1495 words]
Minnesota Lawmakers Passed a Range of Bills This Spring That Affect University of Minnesota Students and the State. The Minnesota Legislature finished its 2014 session May 16, passing a variety of bills ranging from a minimum wage increase to allocations for a $1.23 billion budget surplus. The Minnesota Daily has compiled a roundup of passed legislation affecting the state and the University of Minnesota community. Medical Marijuana Lawmakers legalized medical marijuana after a lengthy and emotionally charged debate between the House and Senate over the bill's exact parameters. [continues 726 words]
MINNEAPOLIS A year ago, University of Minnesota researchers received a $9.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study pain in patients with sickle cell disease. Normally, such an award would quickly launch a study, but lead researcher Kalpna Gupta is still waiting on a critical part of the research and moved the work to California to speed the process. Gupta wants to see whether medical marijuana can treat pain. Completing such a study involves so much red tape that Gupta has decided to collaborate with researchers in San Francisco who have experience threading the bureaucratic needle. [continues 1038 words]
ST. PAUL - Minnesota farmers are happy that lawmakers lowered some farm property taxes, but small businesses complain that a higher minimum wage and a bill giving them more legal exposure will hurt. Dry southwestern Minnesotans think they may get Missouri River water, but some rural residents fear they will not have the access to medical marijuana of their big-city cousins. In short, the story greater Minnesota residents heard from the 2014 Legislature was mixed. Among the biggest accomplishments lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton proclaimed after the session ended was lowering property taxes for Minnesotans who live on their farms. It will not be enough to buy a new tractor, but supporters of the measure say the $200 farmers will save is good news. [continues 477 words]
Supporting Medical Marijuana Is Right Choice for Politicians America will witness more politicians doing what Gov. Mark Dayton has done - support medical use of cannabis (marijuana) for sick citizens. ("Election Day pushes Dayton's change of heart," Times Writers Group column, May 15.) The overwhelming majority of citizens support medical use of cannabis, and politicians who don't will need to seek different employment. Exactly what kind of politician thinks it's OK to cage sick people for using what God created and says is good on literally the very first page of the Bible? Opposing medical use of cannabis is unattractive, anti-Christian and vulgar. As Dayton realized it's also unpopular. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
A PR Gimmick, It's Cluttered With Absurd Rules and Involves Police in Medical Care. Publicity about the so-called "medical marijuana" bill calls it a compromise, but that's not what it is. It is a false step to reform, not a first step. Predicated more on residual "reefer madness" attitudes about people smoking cannabis for fun, instead of seriously seeking relief for suffering Minnesotans, this law repeats the mistakes of its predecessor, the 1980 THC Therapeutic Research Act, which was a dead letter as soon as it was passed. [continues 445 words]
To the extent establishment Republicans are with the program now, it's purely accidental. They don't really get it. Like the inexperienced thief who breaks into a home and steals the Xbox, ignoring the Picasso hanging on the wall, establishment Republicans have a hard time with the "get government out of the way" concept they looted from the Liberty Movement and the Tea Party factions of the GOP. They steal the phrase to vaguely rail against "government regulation" and "government intervention" in our daily lives while ignoring more valuable illustrations of the principle. [continues 563 words]
A PR gimmick, it's cluttered with absurd rules and involves police in medical care. Publicity about the so-called "medical marijuana" bill calls it a compromise, but that's not what it is. It is a false step to reform, not a first step. Predicated more on residual "reefer madness" attitudes about people smoking cannabis for fun, instead of seriously seeking relief for suffering Minnesotans, this law repeats the mistakes of its predecessor, the 1980 THC Therapeutic Research Act, which was a dead letter as soon as it was passed. [continues 445 words]
ST. PAUL -- Gov. Mark Dayton said early in the year that medical marijuana would not pass the Minnesota Legislature this year. Dayton said there would not be enough time in a short legislative session (it began Feb. 25) to reach a compromise between law enforcement officers who oppose medical marijuana and those who support the concept. Instead of legalizing it, Dayton proposed an extensive clinical study by the Mayo Clinic. He also wanted a report about how it is working in the 21 states that already allow medical marijuana. [continues 710 words]
ST. PAUL -- Though originally touted as an "unsession" to focus on striking outdated laws from the books, the 2014 legislative session was anything but uneventful. Shortly before lawmakers completed their work Friday, state Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, described 2014 as one of the most intense sessions he's been a part of, with action on several bills. "It was a short session but I think we're going to come home and have a lot of good things to talk about," he said. [continues 1100 words]
ST. PAUL - Gov. Mark Dayton said early in the year that medical marijuana would not pass the Minnesota Legislature this year. Dayton said there would not be enough time in a short legislative session (it began Feb. 25) to reach a compromise between law enforcement officers who oppose medical marijuana and those who support the concept. Instead of legalizing it, Dayton proposed an extensive clinical study by the Mayo Clinic. He also wanted a report about how it is working in the 21 states that already allow medical marijuana. [continues 710 words]
MONTEVIDEO -- Now that it appears medical cannabis will be legalized in Minnesota, Montevideo is aiming to be among the first communities to host a manufacturing and distribution center. The Montevideo City Council will take up a resolution on Monday in support of the construction of a medical cannabis manufacturing and distribution facility within the city, according to information from City Manager Steve Jones. "The city of Montevideo has the land and infrastructure in place and (is) 'shovel-ready' to support the construction of a manufacturing and distribution facility," according to the resolution. [continues 153 words]
ST. PAUL - Angie Weaver shed tears, again. "This means the world to our family," the Hibbing mother said between tears of joy Thursday, hoping her daughter will be able to use marijuana extracts to ease up to 50 seizures she has a day. "This is going to help thousands of Minnesotans. ... My daughter is going to be able to stay in Minnesota and grow up with her cousins." Amelia Weaver, 8, sat next to her mother, who has showed tears several times in the past weeks, Thursday as legislators and other medical marijuana supporters announced they have reached a compromise to allow marijuana extracts to be used to treat several medical conditions. [continues 516 words]
ST. PAUL - Minnesota is on the cusp of joining more than 20 states in legalizing medical marijuana. The state Senate voted 46-16 on Friday for a bill that would provide marijuana in the form of liquids and pills to terminally ill patients and those with eight serious medical conditions. The House followed suit Friday evening with an 89-40 vote. It now goes to Gov. Mark Dayton, who said Thursday he would sign the bill. "This is about getting something into the hands of people who have no other available options that are any good at all -- people who are suffering," said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, who sponsored a medical marijuana bill in the Senate. [continues 916 words]
ST. PAUL - Minnesota lawmakers struck a deal Thursday to legalize medical marijuana, handing a major victory to ill children and adults whose emotional appeals for help propelled a major policy change that once appeared dead for the session. Gov. Mark Dayton said he would sign the legislation, which was closer to the House's more restrictive bill than the one first passed by the Senate. Some lamented that the deal doesn't let patients use actual plant material - they instead can use the drug in oil, pill and vapor form - but others were overjoyed. [continues 71 words]
Compromise Measure Reached; Dayton to Sign It ST. PAUL -- A hybrid resolution legalizing medical marijuana is on its way to becoming law when the Senate, House and Gov. Mark Dayton announced their support of the bill Thursday. The measure was spearheaded by DFL Rep. Carly Melin of Hibbing. "The fact that we were able to come together with an agreement that is going to be signed into law is thrilling for a lot of people who have been fighting very, very hard, through blood sweat and tears in order get something done this session," Melin said during a press conference Thursday afternoon. [continues 557 words]
BEMIDJI -- As state legislators debate how far to go with legalizing medical cannabis in Minnesota, statewide advocacy groups stopped in Bemidji on a tour calling for reform to the state's stance on sticky-icky. Progressive advocacy group Minnesota 2020 and the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) held a tandem press conference Wednesday outside the Beltrami County Judicial Center to highlight what they said were unfair side effects of Minnesota's enforcement of laws against recreational marijuana. [continues 887 words]
If medical marijuana bill gets his signature, Dayton will have contradicted position he's had since last year. Oh politicians. They never cease to amaze me. How easy it is to sway their opinions on important issues, particularly when it is an election year. With the latest debates raging in the Legislature on legalizing medicinal marijuana, Gov. Mark Dayton has taken a page from the 2004 John Kerry campaign book. Yes, he's a flip-flopper. With the legalization of medical marijuana in more than 20 states, plus the District of Columbia, and the legalization of recreational marijuana in two states - Colorado and Washington - this plant has captured the attention of the nation and the state. [continues 566 words]
St. Paul, MN Negotiators in the Minnesota House and Senate today (Thursday, May 15) announced a compromise on medical marijuana that Gov. Mark Dayton has confirmed he would sign into law. The following is a statement from Gov. Dayton. "This bill is citizen government at its best. It has been led by parents, who deeply love their children, are anguished by their pain, and insist their government try to help them. As a father and grandfather, I both understand and admire their devotion. [continues 123 words]
House and Senate lawmakers and Gov. Mark Dayton struck a deal to allow suffering Minnesotans use of marijuana to relieve their pain. "It's taking every part of me not to try right now," said Jeremy Pauling, whose 7-year-old daughter suffers from seizures that could be helped with marijuana. "It's been a long road but now I can get my daughter the medicine she needs." The compromise would require patients to certify they are qualified to receive cannabis to get the drug from one of eight distribution centers. Only two manufacturing sites would be permitted under the deal. [continues 286 words]
I feel a correction is needed to the May 1 story, "Medical marijuana plan set to advance in Minnesota Legislature." It seems to me Gov. Mark Dayton's office is not simply working with "law enforcement organizations" regarding the legalization of the medical use of cannabis (marijuana). Dayton seems to be attempting to appease their unions, too. Law enforcement agencies nationwide stand to lose jobs and job security as more states move toward the various facets of the inevitable end of cannabis prohibition. While a sane or moral argument to continue cannabis prohibition doesn't exist, a self-serving greedy argument does. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
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. [continues 329 words]
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. [continues 1260 words]
Dayton Says He Can Support Bill As Passed; but Senate Version Differs ST. PAUL (AP) -- The Minnesota House overwhelmingly passed a bill on Friday that would legalize marijuana use for medical reasons but under tighter restrictions than a bill passed by the Senate earlier in the week. After the vote of 86 to 39 was announced, families looking on pumped their fists and broke into a round of hugs. Angie Weaver, who stood by her 8-year-old daughter, Amelia, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy. [continues 593 words]
Inside Minnesota
