 |
Minnesota: Medical Marijuana is OK'd, but a Veto Looms
By Kevin Duchschere and Pat Doyle, Star Tribune staff writers
A bill that permits terminally ill patients to use marijuana to ease their pain cleared the House and Senate on Monday night, a measure significantly narrowed from an earlier version that would have allowed any suffering patient, terminal or not, to use the drug for medical purposes.
The House passed the bill, 70-64, a victory for supporters who have long worked to get medical marijuana legalized in Minnesota, but one not nearly big enough to override a veto by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who said Tuesday that he will reject the bill.
Hoping to make the bill more palatable to Pawlenty, Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, introduced the last-minute amendment to allow marijuana to be used only by terminal patients. But there seemed little chance that Pawlenty, who has long expressed reservations, was inclined to approve the bill in any form.
The Senate, which previously had passed a broader version, took up the amended bill after the House vote and approved it, 38-28.
The issue of medical marijuana, which has been legalized by 13 states, prompted impassioned debate that pitted concern for the suffering against worries that legalizing the drug even for limited use would lead to increased drug addiction and crime.
The Atkins amendment made no difference to Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, who insisted on calling the drug "medicinal pot."
"It is a gateway drug. It does lead to other issues," he said.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," said Rep. Thomas Huntley, DFL-Duluth, a sponsor of the bill.
Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Good Thunder, who is a police chief, said the potential benefits of the legislation didn't outweigh its drawbacks. Legalizing marijuana even for limited circumstances will lead to problems for officers, he said. "I'm just not willing to give up on the war on drugs," Cornish said.
Source: http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/45368602.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaE...
ROLL CALL VOTE — HOUSE
Roll call votes Monday as the House, on a 70-64 vote, approved a measure to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. Voting yes were 63 Democrats and 7 Republicans. Voting no were 24 Democrats and 40 Republicans.
DEMOCRATS VOTING YES
Atkins (Inver Grove Heights); Benson (Minnetonka); Bigham (Cottage Grove); Bly (Northfield); Carlson (Crystal); Champion (Minneapolis); Clark (Minneapolis); Davnie (Minneapolis); Dittrich (Champlin); Eken (Twin Valley); Falk (Murdock); Faust (Hinckley); Gardner (Shoreview); Hansen (South St. Paul); Hausman (St. Paul); Haws (St. Cloud); Hayden (Minneapolis); Hilstrom (Brooklyn Center); Hilty (Finlayson); Hornstein (Minneapolis); Hortman (Brooklyn Park); Huntley (Duluth); Jackson (Milaca); Johnson (St. Paul); Juhnke (Willmar); Kahn (Minneapolis); Kalin (North Branch); Kelliher (Minneapolis); Knuth (New Brighton); Koenen (Clara City); Laine (Columbia Heights); Liebling (Rochester); Lillie (North St. Paul); Loeffler (Minneapolis); Mahoney (St. Paul); Mariani (St. Paul); Masin (Eagan); Morgan (Burnsville); Morrow (St. Peter); Mullery (Minneapolis); Murphy, E. (St. Paul); Nelson (Brooklyn Park); Newton (Coon Rapids); Obermueller (Eagan); Paymar (St. Paul); Persell (Bemidji); Peterson (New Hope); Poppe (Austin); Reinert (Duluth); Rosenthal (Edina); Rukavina (Virginia); Sailer (Park Rapids); Scalze (Little Canada); Sertich (Chisholm); Simon (St. Louis Park); Slocum (Richfield); Solberg (Grand Rapids); Swails (Woodbury); Thao (St. Paul); Thissen (Minneapolis); Tillberry (Fridley); Wagenius (Minneapolis); Winkler (Golden Valley)
DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
Anzelc (Balsam Twp); Brown (Moscow Twp); Brynaert (Mankato); Bunn (Lake Elmo); Dill (Crane Lake); Doty (Royalton); Fritz (Faribault); Greiling (Roseville); Hosch (St. Joseph); Kath (Owatonna); Lenczewski (Bloomington); Lesch (St. Paul); Lieder (Crookston); Marquart (Dilworth); Murphy, M. (Hermantown); Norton (Rochester); Olin (Thief River Falls); Otremba (Long Prairie); Pelowski (Winona); Ruud (Minnetonka); Slawik (Maplewood); Sterner (Rosemount); Ward (Brainerd); Welti (Plainview)
REPUBLICANS VOTING YES
Buesgens (Jordan); Demmer (Hayfield); Garofalo (Farmington); Gunther (Fairmont); Hackbarth (Cedar); Kelly (Red Wing); McNamara (Hastings)
REPUBLICANS VOTING NO
Abeler (Anoka); Anderson, B. (Buffalo Twp); Anderson, P. (Starbuck); Anderson, S. (Plymouth); Beard (Shakopee); Brod (New Prague); Cornish (Good Thunder); Davids (Preston); Dean (Dellwood); Dettmer (Forest Lake); Doepke (Orono); Downey (Edina); Drazkowski (Wabasha); Eastlund (Isanti); Emmer (Delano); Gottwalt (St. Cloud); Hamilton (Mountain Lake); Holberg (Lakeville); Hoppe (Chaska); Howes (Walker); Kiffmeyer (Big Lake); Kohls (Victoria); Lanning (Moorhead); Loon (Eden Prairie); Mack (Apple Valley); Magnus (Slayton); McFarlane (White Bear Lake); Murdock (Ottertail); Nornes (Fergus Falls); Peppin (Rogers); Sanders (Blaine); Scott (Andover); Seifert (Marshall); Severson (Sauk Rapids); Shimanski (Silver Lake); Smith (Mound); Torkelson (Nelson Twp); Urdahl (Grove City); Westrom (Elbow Lake); Zellers (Maple Grove)
ROLL CALL VOTE — SENATE
Roll call votes Monday as the Senate, on a 38-28 vote, approved a measure to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. Voting yes were 34 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Voting no were 12 Democrats and 16 Republicans.
DEMOCRATS VOTING YES
Anderson (St. Paul); Bakk (Cook); Berglin (Minneapolis); Betzold (Fridley); Bonoff (Minnetonka); Carlson (Eagan); Chaudhary (Fridley); Clark (St. Cloud); Cohen (St. Paul); Dahle (Northfield); Dibble (Minneapolis); Doll (Burnsville); Erickson Ropes (Winona); Foley (Coon Rapids); Higgins (Minneapolis); Kelash (Minneapolis); Latz (St. Louis Park); Lourey (Kerrick); Marty (Roseville); Metzen (South St. Paul); Moua (St. Paul); Murphy (Red Wing); Pappas (St. Paul); Pogemiller (Minneapolis); Prettner Solon (Duluth); Rest (New Hope); Rummel (White Bear Lake); Saltzman (Woodbury); Scheid (Brooklyn Park); Sheran (Mankato); Sieben (Newport); Tomassoni (Chisholm); Torres Ray (Minneapolis); Wiger (Maplewood)
DEMOCRATS VOTING NO
Fobbe (Zimmerman); Kubly (Granite Falls); Langseth (Glyndon); Lynch (Rochester); Olseen (Harris); Olson, M. (Bemidji); Saxhaug (Grand Rapids); Skoe (Clearbrook); Skogen (Hewitt); Sparks (Austin); Stumpf (Plummer); Vickerman (Tracy)
REPUBLICANS VOTING YES
Johnson (Ham Lake); Koering (Fort Ripley); Michel (Edina); Vandeveer (Forest Lake)
REPUBLICANS VOTING NO
Day (Owatonna); Dille (Dassel); Fischbach (Paynesville); Frederickson (New Ulm); Gerlach (Apple Valley); Gimse (Willmar); Hann (Eden Prairie); Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Jungbauer (East Bethel); Koch (Buffalo); Limmer (Maple Grove); Ortman (Chanhassen); Pariseau (Farmington); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont); Senjem (Rochester)
REPUBLICANS NOT VOTING
Olson, G. (Minnetrista)
