MEDIA ADVISORY   
MARCH 10, 2009  

Medical Marijuana Bill Faces House Civil Justice Committee Hearing Wednesday

CONTACT: Former Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover)......................................................(763) 439-1178

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA -- Fresh off of a resounding 6-2 victory in the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division, Minnesota's medical marijuana bill faces its next House committee test in the Civil Justice Committee this Wednesday. If passed, the measure would make Minnesota the 14th state to permit medical use of marijuana by seriously ill patients with a physician's recommendation. The newest such law, in Michigan, was passed by voters in November with a record-setting 63 percent "yes" vote.

    WHAT: House Civil Justice Committee hearing and vote on medical marijuana legislation.

    WHO: Expected witnesses include Joni Whiting, whose adult daughter benefited from medical marijuana during treatment for the melanoma that eventually took her life, and Robert Youcha of St. Francis, a paramedic who suffered spinal injuries in a 1998 ambulance accident, leaving him in constant pain.

    WHEN: Wednesday, March 11, 8:30 a.m.

    WHERE: Rm. 10, State Office Building, St. Paul.

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