No Medical Marijuana for Minnesota This Year
Bills to allow for the use of medical marijuana in Minnesota have popular support and may still be introduced this year, but will be little more than place markers for 2014, supporters said this week, citing opposition from the governor's office and law enforcement.
[image:1 align:left]Heather Azzi of Minnesotans for Compassionate Care said the effort got off to a late start this year, and that the rest of the year would be devoted to trying to shore up support.
"We just had a lot of background work to do before we got started," she told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. And there is a lot of work to be done assuaging the concerns on opponents. "There has to be a way for us to mitigate their concerns," she said. "We will be meeting with them between now and January to do just that."
Medical marijuana made it through the legislature in 2009, only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R). The current governor, Democrat Mark Dayton, isn't any friendlier on the issue.
He told the Associated Press in December that he wasn't interested in advancing either medical marijuana or decriminalization. "I don't think we need another drug operating in our society," he said then.
Minnesota law enforcement remains intransigent as well. Dennis Flaherty, executive director of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, told the Star-Tribune any bill like the 2009 bill would not be going anywhere. "It would be a regulatory and enforcement nightmare," Flaherty said.
The state's political movers-and-shakers are apparently more attuned to the complaints of law enforcement than the desires of the electorate. A Public Policy Polling survey earlier this month had support for medical marijuana at 65%, with 66% saying the governor should not veto such a bill if it passes and 54% saying they would disapprove of sheriffs and prosecutors opposing it.
Comments
"Drug" is a dosage issue
"I don't think we need another drug operating in our society." That comment by Gov. Mark Dayton reveals the blind spot: failure to recognize the difference that will be achieved by (a) downsizing the dosage (25-mg one-hitters instead of 500-mg combustion joint) and (b) vaporizing instead of "smoking" (with a one-hitter this means: hold the heat near but don't ignite).
The "drug" impact attributed to cannabis is caused by heat shock, carbon monoxide, PAH's and other toxins you will AVOID by switching to vape.
Meanwhile, Governor, think what it will mean when cheap accessible cannabis (a) kills off "social binge drinking" and (b) provides an "alternative" whereby youngsters escape NICOTINE ADDICTION which causes $193-bil./year damage to the USD economy (CDC figure). How about them "drug" prospects?
Cannabis and Police
This is a prime example of Law Enforcement assuming that they are Health Care Professionals . Cops are in it for the $$$ , plain and simple . For Governor Dayton to say that " I don`t think we need another drug operating in our society " is beyond the pale . Guess what ? Cannabis is already operating in society . Has been for how long now...???... Thousands of years ?!? The government screwed up royally when it handed the most beneficial plant on earth over to Law Enforcement with its " Reefer Madness " garbage . The undoing of it all and the ugliness of it to Law Enforcement is a beautiful sight to behold indeed .
Minnesotans Are Being Punishedâ¦By Each Other
I’m not certain why, but the forces of circumstance are denying Minnesotans their right to effective medication when and where they want it.
Did Minnesota violate some unwritten law? Are Minnesotans by nature more likely to persecute themselves than the rest of the country?
Minnesotans should reflect on these questions when they deny themselves what could be lifesaving remedies like the cannabinoids found in the marijuana flower.
Another drug? How about the
Another drug? How about the thousands of new drugs floating in society by the chemical drug makers?
Research the Endocannabinoid system and Dr. Melamede
Med pot
Med pot
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