History Of How Minnesota Made Their Medical Marijuana Law (2005-2020)

This isn’t entirely up to date but, for those of you who have been wondering, here is how the hot dog that is the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Law was made in Minnesota.

2005-2009
• MPP attempts to work with legislators,
• Change at end to only terminal patients
• Gov. Pawlenty vetoes

2010
• Dayton forces primary against Anderson Kehler. DFL resources depleted.
• LE Lobby Bosses endorse Dayton; Dayton agrees to not sign anything regarding cannabis legalization

2013
• MPP and Rep. Carly Melin introduce medical cannabis legalization (HF1818)
• Bill includes: Home cultivation, 55 manufacturers, oversight funding comes from application fees
• Co-authors added
• Introduction into the Senate by Sen. Dibble, Sen. Branden Petersen (SF1641)

2014
• Election year (DFL Controlled house up for re-election); Alliance for a Better Minnesota and Win Minnesota are campaign contributors to house with good ties to Dayton through Alaida Messenger, his ex-wife (maiden name Rockefeller)
• Dayton administration pushes back along with LE
• P. Thissen and E. Murphy hold press conference; state there would not be time to hear bill during the session
• HF1818 removed
• March: Dayton tells reporters cannabis bill would not be moving forward. On that same morning activists show up at the Governor’s Mansion to demand progress. Dayton capitulates.
• Most media revolved around prominent activists who were mothers with children with seizures
• Rep. Melin invites patients to capitol, sequesters most patients except for Weaver family, doesn’t notify MPP, sells Weaver family on new bill covering their daughter, Amelia. Press conference is called, and other patients do not know about it until after the fact.
• House bill was reintroduced as a study to only cover seizures with a very limited number of patients; gains traction in house (SF2470; education bill)
• The House tries to enact the CBD Therapeutic Research Act as a “compromise”. Two subsequent bills MPP rejected were even worse than the ultimate house proposal. For example, the original house bill was so bad that it actually required patients who need THC to ONLY use that medication only in a doctors office.
• Garafalo introduced DE13 amendment (supposed to track with Senate bill), fails on floor.
• Senate Bill progresses forward with few changes, smoking is removed. Senate (Esp. Senators Dibble and Petersen) did us all a great service by not capitulating to the governor and the House. Their work helped MPP secure very important amendments that resulted in a program that is much better than it would have been.
• Drastically different bills go to the conference committee
o Members
House: Murphy, Melin, Hamilton
Senate: Dibble, B. Petersen, Lourey
o B. Petersen refuses to sign conference committee’s compromised bill due to fatal flaws which original bills addressed

2015
• Sensible MN campaigns for addition of intractable pain
• December: intractable pain added as a qualifying condition
• Constant reports about affordability and product availability issues

2016
• Sensible MN petitions for the addition of PTSD
• Sensible MN also petitions for addition of whole plant vaporization as ingestion method to relieve affordability and access concerns
• December:
o Whole plant vaporization denied, PTSD added as a qualifying condition
o Commissioner Ehlinger holds a press conference and states as reasons for denying whole plant, in part:
 MDH not responsible for affordability of medicine
 Whole plant is against the spirit of the law

2017
• Americans for safe access ranks Minnesota as the 2nd worst medical cannabis state in the US
• Sensible Minnesota petitions for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Dementia, Liver Disease, and Parkinson’s Disease
• November: Leaf Line labs reports shortage; patients left without medicine
• December: Autism and Obstructive Sleep Apnea added as qualifying conditions

2018
• Sensible Minnesota petitions for the addition of Opioid Use Disorder, Alzheimer’s Disease, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Hepatitis C.
• December: Alzheimer’s Disease added

2019
• Sensible MN goes to the legislature and try to get whole plant added, break up the monopoly (pending but looks really bad)
• HF766/SF1070 address manufacturer lobbyist’s recommended changes such as buying hemp from farmers to make CBD, including provisions for use on school grounds, (deductions of business expenses dealt with in another bill, wholesaling each other”s products, and opening up 4 more patient care centers. Senator Franzen introduces amendments to codify existing commissioner approved conditions into law, to remove the caveats to cancer and intractable pain, and to allow for whole plant cannabis vaporization as a delivery method. Senator Hall, after being pressed, accepts the first and rejects the others. Senator Eaton introduces an amendment to include the condition of opioid addiction which is also rejected.

Keep in mind that the medical cannabis law we have in place is called the Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Research Act and replaced an act of the same name from 1997 which was NEVER FUNDED but passed.

This adds more weight to the argument that, while we do not have a medical cannabis program, we do have a THC research program.