LEGISLATURE DEBATES LEGALIZING MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Editors Note: This Story Is Part Of A Six-Part Series Covering Bills
That Have Historically Failed In The State Legislature But Are Still
Reintroduced Year After Year.
The debate over legalizing medical marijuana has returned to the
state Legislature for the ninth time since 1999. Last session, a
medical marijuana bill passed the Senate, but the House didn't vote
on it before the session ended.

This session, both the House and the Senate are debating bills that
would legalize the use of medical marijuana for use by patients
diagnosed with a short list of debilitating conditions.

That list includes cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, hepatitis C, Tourette's
syndrome and other conditions approved by the Minnesota Commissioner of Health.

The bills specify that qualifying patients would be able to receive a
permit to possess up to 2.5 ounces of useable marijuana, and grow up
to 12 plants from the Minnesota Commissioner of Health after
receiving a doctor's recommendation and a background check.

Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing , the chief author of both the 2007
Senate bill and this year's bill, said the issue of medical marijuana
had been brought to the Legislature several times by other
legislators, but none of those bills went anywhere and were all voted
down by committees.

Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, is one of the House co-authors of the
bill, and said he supports the legalization of medical marijuana
because he believes the number one indication of a bad law is when it
makes essentially good people into lawbreakers.

Buesgens said when his mother was dying of cancer last year she tried
a number of things to treat her pain and loss of appetite.

He said he would gladly have become a lawbreaker to provide her with
marijuana if she had wanted him to.

Murphy said this year's bill provides tight regulation and should
avoid the problems created by less specific medical marijuana laws in
states like California.

For example, under the new bill, any person who transfers their
possession permit or medical marijuana to an unauthorized person
would be guilty of a felony , while under current state law,
possession of less than two ounces of marijuana is a misdemeanor.

One of the main criticisms of the medical marijuana bill last year
was that it didn't provide regulations that were specific enough.

Murphy said the bill's main opponents in the law enforcement
community haven't come to talk to him about ways to improve the bill,
but have just shown up at the committee hearings to bad mouth it.

James Franklin, the executive director for the Minnesota Sheriffs'
Association, said the law enforcement community is worried about
regulatory issues, but the association's main concern is the ethical
dilemma of telling officers not to enforce a federal law.

If the issue with the federal law was taken care of, he said, his
association would be more open to discussing specific stipulations --
like centralized production -- for a stronger bill.

Murphy said the bill has a good chance of passing in both houses of
the Legislature this session, but is worried about the governor vetoing it.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's spokesman Brian McClung said in an e-mail that
the governor stands with law enforcement in opposition to the bill.

H.F. 292 is scheduled for a hearing before the House's Public Safety
Policy and Oversight Committee on Tuesday at 12:45 p.m. in room 10 of
the State Office Building.