MEDICAL MARIJUANA IS OK'D, BUT A VETO LOOMS

Pot Use Would Only Be for the Terminally Ill.

A bill that permits terminally ill patients to use marijuana to ease
their pain cleared the House and Senate on Monday night, a measure
significantly narrowed from an earlier version that would have
allowed any suffering patient, terminal or not, to use the drug for
medical purposes.

The House passed the bill, 70-64, a victory for supporters who have
long worked to get medical marijuana legalized in Minnesota, but one
not nearly big enough to override the likely veto by Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Hoping to make the bill more palatable to Pawlenty, Rep. Joe Atkins,
DFL-Inver Grove Heights, introduced the last-minute amendment to
allow marijuana to be used only by terminal patients. But there
seemed little chance that Pawlenty, who has long expressed
reservations, was inclined to approve the bill in any form.

The Senate, which previously had passed a broader version, took up
the amended bill after the House vote and approved it, 38-28.

The issue of medical marijuana, which has been legalized by 13
states, prompted impassioned debate that pitted concern for the
suffering against worries that legalizing the drug even for limited
use would lead to increased drug addiction and crime.

The Atkins amendment made no difference to Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano,
who insisted on calling the drug "medicinal pot."

"It is a gateway drug. It does lead to other issues," he said.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," said Rep. Thomas Huntley,
DFL-Duluth, a sponsor of the bill.

Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, who is a police chief, said the
potential benefits of the legislation didn't outweigh its drawbacks.
Legalizing marijuana even for limited circumstances will lead to
problems for officers, he said. "I'm just not willing to give up on
the war on drugs," Cornish said.

But other members said they favored the measure, citing sick family
members who they said might have suffered less if they had access to
medical marijuana. Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, his voice
shaky, said that after a while morphine didn't help his dying mother.

And Rep. Mark Buesgens, R-Jordan, a usually reliable conservative
vote, said that medical marijuana wasn't a partisan issue. "Let's do
the right thing for a few people," said Buesgens, who voted for the bill.