Minnesota Independent

Bill to allow marijuana legalization introduced in U.S. House

By Scot Kersgaard | 06.23.11 | 4:39 pm

Legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday morning to allow each state to deal with marijuana as it sees fit. Reps. Jared Polis, D-CO, Barney Frank, D-MA, Steve Cohen, D-TN, John Conyers, D-MI, Barbara Lee, D-CA, and Ron Paul, R-TX introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011 (HR 2306) as a salute to personal freedom, states’ rights and fiscal responsibility.

Senate committee takes up drugs, bong water

By Andy Birkey | 04.08.11 | 8:08 am

Four bills intended to beef up Minnesota’s drug laws were passed by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety committee on Thursday. The bills would change laws related to bong water and make synthetic marijuana and 2C-E illegal substances. The measures seek to address high profile controversies over the last two years, including the case of a woman who was sentenced to prison because the state Supreme Court ruled bong water to be a drug, the death of a Blaine teen in which 2C-E was suspected and the hospitalization of a Hastings teen after he smoked synthetic marijuana.

Bipartisan bill aims to aid economy with hemp production

By Andy Birkey | 03.02.11 | 9:03 am

A bipartisan slate of 30 legislators — from liberal Minneapolis Rep. Phyllis Kahn to conservative Rep. Mark Buesgens of Jordan — are proposing legislation to allow Minnesota farmers to grow industrial hemp. The Industrial Hemp Development Act would legalize hemp plants while maintaining strong restrictions on marijuana possession. The bill even includes the collection of fees from farmers as revenue to run the program; during time of budget deficits, it won’t cost the state anything.

Pawlenty gives his veto pen to the historical society

By Andy Birkey | 12.28.10 | 11:10 am

Gov. Tim Pawlenty handed over artifacts from his time as governor on Monday including an over-sized “Veto Pen.” In a press release from the governor’s office, Pawlenty boasted that he broke the record for most vetoes in one year and that he used the veto or line-item veto 299 times in his 8 years in office.

Ventura, pushing new book at HuffPost: Legalize it!

By Paul Schmelzer | 02.26.10 | 12:26 pm

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura hawks his forthcoming book, “American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies that the Government Tells Us,” with a column at Huffington Post today in which he decries the “staggering” hypocrisy of the…

Americans’ support for marijuana legalization reaches new high

By Andy Birkey | 10.20.09 | 10:55 am

A Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of October shows that more Americans support the legalization of marijuana than ever before — even if the majority still think it should be illegal.

Obama: Pot is not good stimulus

By Andy Birkey | 03.26.09 | 6:47 pm

President Obama hosted an online town hall meeting Thursday, and one of the most popular questions posed from the 104,059 submissions and 3,605,264 votes cast was: Would the legalization of marijuana help with the nation’s economic recovery?
The president…

Legislators aim to recriminalize small amounts of marijuana

By Andy Birkey | 03.19.09 | 10:41 am

A bill offered by Sen. Juliane Ortman, R-Chanhassen, and Rep. Dave Olin, DFL-Thief River Falls, would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and increase penalties for possession of large amounts of marijuana and possession of marijuana plants. Minnesota decriminalized “small amounts” of marijuana in 1976, making the punishment for possession on par with a traffic violation.

Hemp, hemp, hooray: Bill aims to aid farmers with new but controversial crop

By Andy Birkey | 03.04.09 | 10:51 am

A bipartisan group of legislators is hoping hemp production will be a boon to Minnesota farmers and manufacturers as demand for the plant and its byproducts continues to grow. The Industrial Hemp Development Act (HF 608) would allow the state to issue licenses to qualified farmers who pass background checks.

Medical marijuana a public safety threat? The data says otherwise

By Andy Birkey | 02.17.09 | 10:15 am

While legislators debate making marijuana legal for individuals suffering from debilitating illness, law enforcement has testified that medical marijuana would post a risk to public safety. But as the Humphrey Institute’s Smart Politics reports, Minnesota law enforcement has scaled…