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]

ST. PAUL -- Medical marijuana is a couple of steps away from being allowed in Minnesota.

The House late this afternoon approved a slimmed down measure in 86-39 vote. Senators passed their broader bill 48-18 Tuesday. The two bills likely will head to House-Senate negotiators to craft a measure Gov. Mark Dayton can sign.

Dayton says he needs to know more about the House bill before he can say if he could sign it. The Senate measure, which law enforcement leaders oppose, allows far more marijuana distribution centers and other provisions Dayton and police cannot accept.

[continues 357 words]

ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota House takes up medical marijuana today in what could be a debate lasting well into the night while pieces fall into place on tax and spending bills as the Minnesota Legislature nears the end of its 2014 session.

Debate on the much-discussed proposal to allow children with seizures and adults with extreme pain to use marijuana extracts is expected to begin in the early afternoon, and could last hours. Senators overwhelmingly approved a more liberal bill earlier in the week, but it may go too far for Gov. Mark Dayton to sign it into law.

[continues 488 words]

Like many parents, every decision Kari and Kirk Olavson make about the care of their 3-year-old son has his best interests at heart.

But it's different for them. And for Jacob.

Jacob had his first seizure when he was three days old. Since then the Anoka family has coped with the chronic uncertainty and never-ending medical treatments that come with caring for a child who often has dozens of seizures a day and at the worst, as many as 40. After trying medication after medication that sometimes provides short-term relief, the seizures always come back.

[continues 592 words]

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.

[continues 681 words]

"We have the votes to pass it," the Senate bill sponsor says. A narrower bill is still working its way through the state House.

Legalization of medical marijuana is head-ed for a vote by the full state Senate on Tuesday.

The proposal, which would allow marijuana to be used for a broad range of ailments and set up a statewide system of dispensaries, cleared its last Senate hurdle on Monday. The Senate Finance committee approved the bill 14-7.

"We have the votes to pass it," predicted Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, the bill's chief sponsor.

[continues 479 words]

Local family moves to Colorado to help their daughter

Minnesota is currently in the throes of the medical marijuana issue. Monday, a proposal allowing marijuana to be used for different ailments in the state was approved by the Senate Finance Committee 14-7. The next steps include a vote of the full Senate and then the House.

If the law passes, Minnesota will be the 22nd state to protect medical marijuana users.

One family is watching the process carefully. Jason and Marie Jay recently moved from Fort Ripley to Colorado to have access to medical marijuana for their daughter, Jenna.

[continues 949 words]

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota Senate has voted resoundingly to pass a bill allowing use - but not smoking - of medical marijuana for those with debilitating ailments.

The Senate bill would allow use of medical marijuana by inhaling vapors or in pill or oil forms. It passed the Senate Tuesday on a surprisingly strong 48-18 vote - a large-enough majority to override a governor's veto.

St. Cloud-area senators were among the minority that opposed the bill, except Sen. Dave Brown, R-Becker, who voted for it.

[continues 826 words]