City Pages' Jesse Marx has posted the most honest description of Minnesota's new cannabis bill in Legislators send conservative medical marijuana bill to governor's desk over lone protest.
Fortunately, the legislature also funded some real weed research. The session daily reported in House passes supplemental budget package:
The agreement would also blend nearly $5 million from the General Fund and the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund to create the Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center at the University of Minnesota.
“This is amongst the most important legislation that has been enacted to support agriculture and Minnesota’s farmers,” said Rep. Andrew Falk (DFL-Murdock). “Invasive species pose hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars of threats to our agricultural, forestry and tourism industries in addition to causing irreparable harm to our state’s ecosystems and our quality of life.”
There's only so much buckthorn Minnesota's goat herd can devour after all.
Falk has more on his official page:
State Representative Andrew Falk (DFL-Murdock) chief-authored and spearheaded the effort to establish the Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center. “We know the immense threat invasive species and herbicide-resistant agriculture weeds pose to our state and our economy. Instead of playing catch-up and attempting to reactively deal with invasive species, we will be taking a proactive approach to contain and address the threats before they become a crisis.”
Bluestem posted about a hearing Falk chaired in Super weed menace lights up Minnesota's debate about farm chemical dependency concerns and Minnesota's other weed debate: GOP reps felt attacked by science back in January hearing.
If you're wondering why it's a sound spending decision to create the Center, just watch the expert testimony from weed scientists in the post at the second link.
Photo: Herbicide resistant waterhemp smoking some soybeans in a field. Via Seeds Today.
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