Pubdate: Wed, 07 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

CONFLICT AT CAPITOL OVER MEDICAL MARIJUANA LOOMS AS SENATE PASSES 
SWEEPING BILL

The new proposal would make it widely available for medicinal
uses.

Ignoring opposition from the governor and law enforcement, the
Minnesota Senate on Tuesday voted to legalize medical marijuana and
make it widely available in statewide dispensaries for a broad range
of ailments.

"For God's sake, if people are suffering and we have the ability to
provide a way to alleviate the pain, let's hear their concern, let's
hear their prayer," said Sen. Charles Wiger, DFL-Maplewood, before the
measure passed 48-18.

During the hourslong debate, medical marijuana supporters looked on
from the Senate gallery, many holding aloft pictures of children
they'd like to receive the drug to reduce seizures brought on by epilepsy.

"They have to pass something this session because the voters will
remember if they don't," said Jessica Hauser, a Woodbury parentwho has
sought access to marijuana to help treat her son's dozens of daily
seizures.

The Senate bill is now on a collision course with a much more
scaled-back and tightly regulated legalization bill in the House,
where members are trying to craft a bill that Gov. Mark Dayton would
be willing to sign.

The House version initially called for restricting participation to
clinical trials, but the bill's sponsors have since reframed the use
as "observational research." That eliminates a requirement that all
medical marijuana would have to be used in the direct company of a
doctor, which critics said could put doctors at risk of federal
prosecution.

The Ways and Means Committee approved the House bill early Tuesday and
Speaker Paul Thissen said the full House could vote on it as early as
Friday.

Thissen said he believes the more modest House bill would win wider
support among lawmakers from both parties.

Critics warned Tuesday that legalizing marijuana, even for medicinal
purposes, would set Minnesota on a dangerous path.

"I think we're taking baby steps toward legalizing recreational
marijuana," said Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, a former county
sheriff. He noted that the two states that have fully legalized
marijuana - Colorado and Washington - started by authorizing medical
marijuana. Currently, 21 U.S. states allow some form of marijuana use
by patients.

"That's where my huge concern comes in," Ingebrigtsen said. The
Republican cited opposition to the Senate bill from Dayton's
commissioners of the departments of Health, Human Services and Public
Safety.

The Senate proposal would allow up to 55 medical marijuana
dispensaries around the state, dubbing them "alternative treatment
centers." Patients would need a doctor's permission and have to pay a
$140 yearly fee to get a medical marijuana card. That would give them
access to up to 2.5 ounces of the drug at a time. Each center would
pay a $15,000 yearly operating fee to the state.

Qualifying conditions in the Senate proposal are cancer, HIV/AIDS,
glaucoma, Tourettes syndrome, ALS, seizures brought on by epilepsy,
muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease,
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a handful of conditions
that cause chronic pain. Patients would not be allowed to smoke the
drug, but could use a vaporizer or ingest it in pill or oil form.

The House proposal includes some features of the Senate bill but is
far more restrictive. The yearly fee for patients would be higher,
$200, and the list of qualifying conditions is smaller - both PTSD and
chronic pain are excluded. Officials estimate that slightly more than
5,000 Minnesotans would sign up to participate.

Rather than a system of dispensaries, the House plan calls for
marijuana to be grown and distributed at a single site under control
of the Department of Health. That concerns some medical marijuana
supporters in the House.

"My concern is outstate Minnesota," said Rep. Denny McNamara,
R-Hastings. But Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger, an opponent of the
Senate bill, opposed a move by McNamara to expand the number of
distribution sites from one to six.

Ehlinger said that having more than one manufacturer could result in
quality control problems. "The product could be different depending
where it is grown," he said.

With major differences between the House and Senate proposals, a final
bill would have to be worked out in a conference committee.

Medical marijuana has scrambled the usual partisan alliances at the
Capitol, with Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the debate.

"Doctors prescribe highly toxic, highly addictive substances every
day," said Sen. Branden Petersen, R-Andover. "Nobody has ever died of
a marijuana overdose."

- - Abby Simons and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger contributed to this story.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt