Pubdate: Fri, 11 Apr 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
Page: B3

MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL IS BACK

A public hearing was held by the Health and Human Services Committee
after senators revived the measure.

State senators revived a stalled proposal legalizing medical marijuana
Thursday, in response to chiding from Gov. Mark Dayton that
legislators were avoiding the controversial issue. Photos by GLEN
STUBBE   Angie Weaver comforted her daughter
Amelia, 7, at a Senate hearing about a medical marijuana Thursday at
the State Capitol. Amelia suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, called
Dravet Syndrome, that can be effectively treated with a substance
extracted from marijuana, which currently illegal in Minnesota.

"We had been reticent to move forward in light of the governor's
concerns and objections," said Sen. Scott Dibble, the lead sponsor of
the proposal in the Senate. But earlier this week, Dayton - who has
been the subject of withering criticism from medical marijuana
activists - suggested that lawmakers have "hidden behind their desks"
on the issue.

"We took him up on the invitation," said Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis.

Dayton has not been willing to support wide-ranging legalization for
other medical uses, but he suggested a possible compromise in the form
of state-funded research into a cannabis-based oil shown to relieve
epileptic seizures in children. That's put him at odds with a
well-organized group of medical marijuana advocates, both adult users
and parents of epileptic children, who say studies don't go far enough
and have hit back in a series of emotional news conferences and two TV
commercials that called out the governor by name.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee reviewed the wider
medical marijuana proposal on Thursday. The panel didn't vote, but the
committee chairman said members would when legislators return from a
12-day holiday break that starts Friday. Dibble said he believes he
has the votes to clear committees and to pass the full Senate; the
bill's House sponsor has also said she believes there's enough votes
to pass in that chamber, although the House's DFL leaders have been
reluctant to take up the issue.

Dibble's proposal would allow patients diagnosed with cancer,
glaucoma, HIV and a range of chronic diseases to obtain a medical
marijuana license. Patients would be able to possess up to 2.5 ounces
of cannabis that they could administer through a variety of methods,
including smoking.

The bill would also authorize a network of dispensary-style
businesses, which would be regulated by the Minnesota Department of
Health. Users would not be allowed to grow their own marijuana for
medical use.

Two of Dayton's Cabinet officers told senators that the proposal is a
bad idea. Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger, who is also a pediatrician,
said the bill creates "a risky shortcut for a substance of variable
quality and strength." Citing differing views within the medical
community, Ehlinger said legalizing medical marijuana would put many
doctors in a tough spot.

"There's lots of anecdotal evidence, but the scientific evidence is
not there in terms of prescribing marijuana to patients," Ehlinger
said.

But Jacob Mirman, a St. Louis Park doctor, said practitioners who
believe there are benefits to medical marijuana are already in a tough
spot. Mirman said he has seen marijuana provide relief to his
patients, mentioning a patient with multiple sclerosis who has found
smoking marijuana relieved severe muscle spasms.

Illegal vs. unethical

"What am I supposed to tell him? It's illegal to prescribe, but it's
unethical to not prescribe what will help him most," Mirman said. He
said he considers a wide range of substances, including Tylenol,
Prozac, liquor and tobacco, to be more harmful than marijuana if used
improperly.

The Senate panel also heard from parents of children with severe
epilepsy, and adult users who admitted to breaking state law in order
to obtain marijuana to relieve pain or nausea.

The medical marijuana proposal scrambles the normal partisan
alignments at the Capitol, with DFLers and Republicans on both sides
of the issue.

"I don't think this is a tenable situation to tell doctors they can't
talk about this and to tell patients they can't use it," said Sen.
John Marty, DFL-Roseville, one of the Senate's most liberal members.
But Dayton's human services commissioner, Lucinda Jesson, raised
particular concerns about adolescent use and about studies that have
shown a link between marijuana use and mental illness.

"I have great concerns about increasing the availability of marijuana
in our state," Jesson said. "Marijuana is addictive. I just want to
put that on the table."
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MAP posted-by: Matt