Bluestem Prairie just stepped outside and breathed deeply of the pure Chippewa County air after reading Forum Communications' reporter Don Davis' lede in Marijuana available for medical uses in Minnesota, but illegal:
Minnesotans who want marijuana to ease pain and deal with other medical conditions already can get it, Gov. Mark Dayton said Thursday.
However, he quickly added, buying pot on the street is illegal, and he does not endorse it. In a conference call with reporters, he said possessing a small amount of the drug could bring a fine about the same cost as a traffic ticket.
“I am not advocating anybody do whatever it is that they do,” Dayton said. “I am just trying to point out reality.”
Dayton added: “The fact is that you can go out in any city in Minnesota, I am told, and purchase marijuana.”
Ok then. We can almost see the author of HF1818, Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), shaking her head as she responded to Dayton's statement:
“That is really dangerous for patients,” Melin said. “Marijuana you buy on the street, you don’t know what it is laced with. ... I don’t think that any patient in Minnesota should have to turn to the black market and street crime.”
The representative said Dayton’s comment undermines the bill.
Our respect for her skills and patience deepened this week after watching Melin attempt to negotiate with law enforcement groups, who so totally handed out a sheet of what they wanted and pretty much got it, then said oh noes!.
We're down with the editorial board of the Rochester Post Bulletin in Dayton, not law enforcement, should wield veto pen:
. . . the landscape of the issue changed briefly last week when the Minnesota Law Enforcement Coalition said it was open to discussing medical marijuana becoming legal in extract form. The coalition, which represents the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, the Minnesota Sheriffs Association, the Minnesota Chief of Police Association and the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, announced a list of acceptable conditions for medical use of marijuana.
The list encouraged legislators to limit medical marijuana to patients with "seizures, late stage cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis or AIDS." The coalition also wants to restrict the use of marijuana to extracts such as pills, liquids and vapor. It would not allow smoking of marijuana, even though that's how the majority of medical patients use it.
Rep. Carly Melin, a DFLer from Hibbing who is chief sponsor of the House medical marijuana legislation, incorporated most of those conditions into the most-recent version of her bill, yet she still couldn't get law enforcement officials to support it. Melin declared a stalemate on Tuesday and postponed a Government Operations Committee hearing to discuss medical marijuana.
"Law enforcement won't support any bill that would result in helping any patients," Melin said. "The governor has to get involved."
Somehow, we doubt his comments were what she had in mind, but here's hoping that she gains a stronger bargaining position with Dayton's directing chief of staff Jaime Tincher, senior policy advisor Joanna Dornfeld and Department of Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger explore compromises.
What caused Dayton to mellow ever so tiny a bit? Davis reports:
Medical marijuana supporters gathered in front of the governor’s official state residence with an oversized get-well card.
“You took action to relieve your pain,” the card read. “Will you take action to relieve ours?”
The Star Tribune has more in Despite lack of support so far, Dayton gives hope to medical marijuana supporters in private:
Dayton, who is recovering from a February hip surgery, invited 11 medical marijuana supporters into the Governor's Residence to make their case. Between 50 and 75 of them had gathered outside the gates to deliver an oversized greeting card urging him to "stop bowing to law enforcement." They emerged optimistic he would come around to support a proposal.
"This is about taking law enforcement's veto pen away," said Heather Azzi, the Minnesotans for Compassionate Care political director, after the conversation among her, Dayton, medical-marijuana patients and other activists. "The governor offered us a new negotiating partner today."
It's a step forward, and we're happy that the convalescing Governor is willing understand that he's not alone in needing medical relief.
The number one rule is, after all, you've got to share.
Photo: This guy holds all the power under the ground rules set by Governor Dayton for the medical marijuana debate in Minnesota.
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