Lawmakers Pass Measure Allowing Medical Marijuana
A bill making Minnesota the 22nd state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes has cleared its final legislative hurdle.
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A bill making Minnesota the 22nd state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes has cleared its final legislative hurdle.
It's the news for which thousands of Minnesota families have waited. State lawmakers reached a deal Thursday that will make medical marijuana legal. Angela Garin watches her son have seizures daily. Now, the St. Paul mom hopes medical marijuana will help him and thousands of others.
Minnesota lawmakers have a deal on a medical marijuana bill that would set up eight distribution sites and allow qualified patients to access the drug in oil, pill and vapor form. The agreement announced Thursday was crafted to suit concerns of Gov. Mark Dayton, who backs it.
Two very different plans for legalizing medical marijuana in Minnesota went to a legislative conference committee on Tuesday, leaving advocates hoping for an agreement acceptable enough to Gov. Mark Dayton to become law.
Gov. Mark Dayton says he's still hopeful lawmakers can fashion a medical marijuana compromise that gets help to ailing people but doesn't allow for access he fears would be too wide. Dayton said Monday that he has top aides working with legislators on a bill that can become law.
The next move in legalization of medical marijuana in Minnesota is up to the state Senate. Senators could vote Monday to adopt a House bill that is more restrictive than theirs.
This week, the Minnesota House and Senate will have to hammer out differences between the Senate and House versions of a medical marijuana law.
Minnesota lawmakers face a shrinking pile of unfinished business as they sprint this week toward the end of the legislative session and the campaign season just beyond.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has sent a letter to House and Senate sponsors of their respective medical-marijuana bills. Dayton said he would sign the bill into law if legislators adopted the House version as is. Dayton sent the letter to Minneapolis Democratic Sen. Scott Dibble and Hibbing Democratic Rep. Carly Melin soon after the House passed a medical-marijuana proposal on Friday.
The Minnesota House overwhelmingly passed a bill on Friday that would legalize marijuana use for medical reasons but under tighter restrictions than a bill passed by the Senate earlier in the week.
A bill with tight limits on use of marijuana as medicine has reached a pivotal Minnesota House vote. Days after the Senate overwhelmingly passed a more-expansive version, House lawmakers planned to debate its own proposal and almost 50 potential amendments Friday.
Many families didn't want to wait for a law in Minnesota to help their sick kids. They moved to Colorado to get access to marijuana. WCCO caught up with one family seeing some big changes in their daughter after their move.
The Minnesota state Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
A bill to legalize medical marijuana is headed to the Senate floor after passage by the Finance Committee. The committee passed the bill 14-7 on Monday after adding a few wrinkles to the legislation.
A rift among Minnesota supporters of allowing the use of marijuana for medical purposes could make it harder to push legalization through the legislature this year. Committees in both the House and Senate were debating competing legislation Friday. A Senate panel stripped the option of smoking marijuana as medication from its bill on Thursday. But the House version is even more limited in how the drug may be accessed.
Democratic House leaders say they have a new compromise proposal on medical marijuana that is unopposed by law enforcement. Their proposal would create a limited clinical trial for children and adults suffering from severe illnesses.
One more Minnesota Senate panel has approved legislation that would legalize medical marijuana. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the OK Wednesday despite opposition from law enforcement including Public Safety Commissioner Mona Dohman.
A Minnesota Senate panel has approved legislation that would legalize medical marijuana. The chamber's Committee on State and Local Government advanced the legislation after questions on how a program would be set up and run.
With just three weeks left in this year's session, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee passed a new version of the bill that includes a state study on how medical marijuana availability would impact Minnesota.
Supporters of medical marijuana plan to continue their push for its legalization at the State Capitol on Tuesday. The group, Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, says they now have 100 Minnesota doctors, pastors and clergy members who support legal access to medical marijuana.
As a medical marijuana bill remains a controversial issue in Minnesota, Wisconsin has approved a bill for a marijuana component.
Lawmakers will be less than a month from the mandatory session finish line when they return to the Capitol after Easter, but don't be surprised if they make an earlier break for it. Much of the heavy lifting of the election-year session is done. Negotiators from the House, Senate and Gov. Mark Dayton's administration forecast more ease than usual buttoning up remaining tax and budget bills.
Medical marijuana has not yet been snuffed out in Minnesota. Sen. Scott Dibble, a Minneapolis Democrat, took up the gauntlet Gov. Mark Dayton threw down this week when he dared legislators to vote on the proposal if they felt they could pass it, declining to say if he would veto it.
A possible Minnesota House vote on legalizing medical marijuana has been delayed for a couple of weeks. Republican Rep. Pat Garofalo of Farmington was hoping to attach an amendment that would legalize medical marijuana to a separate health bill. But that bill has been pulled from Wednesday's docket until after the Legislature's Passover/Easter break that begins the next day.
Advocates of medical marijuana aren't giving up at the State Capitol, despite opposition from Gov. Mark Dayton. A bill to legalize medical marijuana is stalled at the legislature, but supporters -- including mothers of sick children -- are asking the governor to reconsider.
