Never mind Governor Mark Dayton's stiff and well-documented resistance to legalizing medical marijuana--much less recreational pot use--during the 2014 session.
Or the resulting law that has produced policy that's so restrictive the families of those few who are able to get into the program--like little Amelia Weaver--are pleading to expand those covered so that costs (not covered by insurance) come down.
Or that the manufacturers are having a hard time making money under the law, with one firm delaying opening two dispensaries in Greater Minnesota.
If you were among the Brown County Republican faithful gathered at FUNRaiser at the Brown County REA Auditorium, you would have heard a very different story from state senator Gary Dahms. R-Redwood Falls. Fritz Busch reports in Daudt: No gas tax hike:
District 16 Sen. Gary Dahms said if the Republicans didn't control the House, the Legislature would be talking about passing recreational marijuana.
"We need the Speaker Daudt and the House to deal with a wild, liberal government, and I'm sugar-coating it by calling it that," Dahms said. "We're dealing with people who have over-stepped their bounds and it's not just Gov. Dayton."
Bluestem wonders where Dahms gets his information about the secret desires of DFL legislators, since NORML hasn't been able to find a sponsor for its anti-prohibition bills. Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reported in 2014 in Supporters of legal marijuana rally at Capitol:
No bills have been introduced this session to legalize marijuana but Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, told the rally she supports it to increase state revenue and reduce arrests for possession.
“Let’s create a system right here at this Capitol where we can tax, where we can regulate the sales and increase the revenue at the state of Minnesota so we can invest more wisely in all of us.”
Backers of medical marijuana were careful to distance themselves from the rally.
Dahms picksup the spirit of former colleague Mike Parry, who used the occasion of the annual Brown County fundraiser to accuse Mark Dayton of being a scary pill-popper:
.. . .The most liberal governor in the United States. When you sit across from him and you watch him pop 15 to 16 pills while you're having a meeting, it's scary. We all know how scary Obama is. He is at the same level.
That's why I'm here tonight. We have got to take the majority in the House and Senate. There is no ifs, buts, or ands about it folks. You have got to dig deep with your talents, with your treasures, with your coffee clutches, talking to people. The man is scary.
But Bluestem thinks that Dahms should sleep soundly at night. Republican bloggers and operatives (like these guys) have informed us time and again that Dayton's former wife, Alida Rockefeller Messinger, controls the purse strings of the DFL and its allied front groups, and she's now married to a dude whose job is to keep trust-funds out of the hands of the dope industry.
On his firm's blog, he's concerned about marijuana. On his mirror personal blog there's this:
Conversely, other regular smokers may be more difficult to deal with in family meetings.
- They ask disruptive questions and go off on tangential trains of thought.
- They are susceptible to harebrained investment schemes, being easily talked into being the deep-pocket “lead partner” to show their family they can be successful – despite being chronically high.
- You may also have unhappy grandparents when they discover their beloved granddaughter is moving to Colorado to raise goats after they “invested” several hundred thousand in her private school education.
While Bluestem know any number of dirty hippies up here in the scenic Upper Minnesota River Valley or near Fergus Falls who would welcome trust fund goat farmers in the event of recreational pot's legalization, the fact that Messinger doesn't share that economic development vision suggests that wild-eyed DFLers probably won't go there soon, either.
Photo: State Senator Gary Dahms.
Hat-tip: Kurtis Hanna & Dan Feidt for the tip about Messinger's consulting.
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My Waseca friend told me that the deluded Mike Parry would be showing up. His business failed, shut down in Waseca or was it mankato. Nobody wanted to buy Mikes pizza. I imagine his wife is getting mighty tired of him spending her money. We had fun with Mike at breakfast one morning at the Hyvee in Winona. Talked about a messed up way of thinking.
Posted by: Merle Hanson | Sep 17, 2015 at 04:02 PM