Medical marijuana bill advances in House

Medical marijuana is close to becoming a reality for Minnesotans who suffer chronic, debilitating illness and intractable pain. A bill to allow doctors to recommend marijuana as a treatment and to allow patients to procure the herb through state regulated growers passed the Senate last session and is ready for a vote in the House after passing its final committee.

Lawmakers voted 13-4 to pass the bill though the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday which will land it on the House floor. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has sided with law enforcement who generally oppose the bill, although the governor remains somewhat sympathetic to the bill which is perhaps a testament to a sizeable amount of Republican support for the measure.

While the bill lost one of it’s key Republican sponsors when Steve Sviggum retired from the legislature after being appointed Commissioner of Labor and Industry by Pawlenty, the bill still has support from some legislators with a conservative ideology.

“To me, this is the ultimate conservative issue,” Chris DeLaForest, R-Andover, told the Star Tribune. “It’s about keeping the government out of the doctor-patient relationship.”

The bill does not enjoy the support of a majority of House Republicans and has a quite a bit of opposition from members of the DFL.

If enough House Republicans and DFLers vote for the measure, and provisions in the bill placate law enforcement enough for Pawlenty to feel comfortable signing it into law, Minnesota will become the 13th state to allow patients to find relief without resorting to dealing on the streets with criminals.