House passes medical marijuana bill
The House today (May 18) passed a medical marijuana bill, amending the legislation so the use of the drug would be restricted to the dying.
The bill passed on a 70 to 64 nonpartisan vote.
“Let’s call it medical pot,” said Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, who spoke several times against the bill.
But Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, spoke of his own mother’s death to cancer and how lawmakers should not joke about a possible “gateway to peace.”
“My mother went through extreme pain,” he said.
Area lawmakers voting in favor of the bill: Buesgens, Dittrich, Garofalo, Hackbarth, Hansen, Hortman, Jackson, Kalin, Masin, McNamara, Morgan, Newton, Obermueller, and Tillberry.
Voting against: Abeler, Anderson, B., Davids, Dean, Dettmer, Doty, Eastlund, Emmer, Holberg, Kiffmeyer, Lenczewski, Mack, Peppin, Sanders, Scott, and Sterner.
The House version of the bill is different than the Senate’s.
