Medical marijuana legislation passes Minnesota Senate

The Minnesota Independent

By Andy Birkey

A bill to legalize medical marijuana for seriously ill Minnesotans passed the State Senate on Wednesday. The bill prompted an hour of heated debate before passing the chamber by a vote of 36 to 28. The bill awaits a vote in the House before making its way to Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has indicated he will veto the bill.

“It seems that that testimony gets more gut-wrenching every year,” Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, said on the Senate floor. “There have been several boxes of Kleenexes used as we’ve sat through testimony. This is not an easy bill. There are tensions on both sides of the issue, but it was a very respectful exchange of ideas.”

Murphy said the main objections to the bill — mainly from law enforcement — are overblown. He recalled the debate over conceal-and-carry gun laws: “Law enforcement said that conceal and carry would create the ‘wild west’ out of Minnesota. Everybody heard how the cops said that and now that’s what they say about medical marijuana.”

“We took over 50 suggestions from law enforcement and put them into the bill,” he said, noting that law enforcement refused to sit down with him to talk about issues with the current revised bill.

“I was really looking forward to the opportunity to sit down with law enforcement and talk about the issues with the bill.”

But some, mainly Republican senators, railed against it as a harm to children.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, said: “Marijuana is not an herbal medicine. It is a gateway to drugs. I don’t even know why we are debating this!”

She said her visits to drug treatment centers demonstrated that.

“These addicted people went from tobacco to pot to cocaine to meth. That’s a fact.”

Date: 04/29/09