CaseyJones
02-12-2017, 06:31 PM
http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/news/Uphill-battle-to-put-marijuana-on-MN-ballot-413411113.html
DFL lawmakers concede they face a steep uphill battle in their quest to put the recreational marijuana question to Minnesota voters in the form of a constitutional amendment, but they say their legislation is designed to start the conversation here.
"We are all well aware that our colleagues here who are committee chairs, who would give this bill a hearing, are not interested in having the conversation right now," Rep. Jason Metsa of Virginia told reporters Thursday.
"What I’ve heard from my constituents is, we want you to be bold. This is a conversation starter."
The four Democrats who stood before reporters to explain their proposal to the Capitol press corps represent a geographically diverse cross section of the state. That group included Rep. Metsa from the Iron Range, Rep. Jon Applebaum of Minnetonka, Rep. Alice Hausman from St. Paul and Rep. Tina Liebling from Rochester.
They also range in age from 31 to 72, and say they're fielding more calls from residents of their districts of all ages and walks of life, wanting to know when the state will make the drug legal.
"There’s been a real change in attitude across the country, a real change of attitude across Minnesota," Rep. Liebling asserted.
She said legalizing pot for recreational use would alleviate many of the downsides of the prohibition of cannabis, including racial disparities in enforcement of lower level drug offenses.
"Prohibition creates a lot of harms, for instance putting people who need marijuana and buy it on the black market into contact with a criminal element, something that could be avoided if they could buy their marijuana legally."
Rep. Applebaum says that legalization of recreational marijuana is inevitable, considering that eight states and the District of Columbia have moved in that direction already.
He views legalization as an opportunity to foster private industry and collect tax revenue from a drug already being used by Minnesotans. The state would also create purity standards to monitor manufacturers and retailers for quality control.
"We have a billion dollar opportunity here, to create a Made-in-Minnesota economy whereby Minnesota farmers can grow cannabis products, Minnesota businesses can distribute cannabis, and Minnesota small businesses can sell it."
Governor Dayton Thursday reaffirmed his opposition to the idea of recreational pot, citing the fears of law enforcement -- the same groups that opposed starting Minnesota's limited medical cannabis program.
When asked about a point supporters make -- that alcohol has had more damaging effects of people and yet is legal -- Dayton said he isn't persuaded by that argument.
"I don’t disagree about the perils and pitfalls of alcohol, particularly alcohol abuse," Dayton remarked. "So do we want to add yet another drug to that mix, and subject our society to the same risks involved?"
By taking the question straight to voters via a constitutional amendment they can bypass Governor Dayton's desk. In Minnesota governors don't have the power to block amendments from going on the ballot.
But, because the state lacks a direct initiative and referendum system, only the legislature can place an amendment on the statewide ballot. And at this point Republican leadership, and many Democrats, oppose the idea.
Republican Rep. Tony Cornish, who heads the powerful public safety committee in the Minn. House, told KARE he will not schedule any of the recreational marijuana bills for hearings.
"It won't pass out of the House or the Senate. It’s going to have to be a certain makeup of the legislature to see this get off the ground, and I certainly won’t give it a hearing," Rep. Cornish
Rep. Cornish, who spent 32 years in law enforcement, is not moved by the argument that legalizing marijuana will free police to focus on more serious crimes and terrorism.
"Their tradeoff they say would be less arrests for illegal drugs but you also have the problems of people robbing people with drugs and transporting it out of state where it’s not legal, and people here coming to buy it from other states."
Backers of legalization, in weighing the risks of cannabis verses legal substances, point out there's no such thing as a marijuana overdose. They also challenge the notion that it's a precursor or "gateway" drug to harder prescription drugs and underground narcotics.
But Cornish cites law enforcement experience of marijuana being present and many raids and undercover operations targeting harder drugs.
now we had a lot of Ron Paul people in MN
maybe they could help push this along?
DFL lawmakers concede they face a steep uphill battle in their quest to put the recreational marijuana question to Minnesota voters in the form of a constitutional amendment, but they say their legislation is designed to start the conversation here.
"We are all well aware that our colleagues here who are committee chairs, who would give this bill a hearing, are not interested in having the conversation right now," Rep. Jason Metsa of Virginia told reporters Thursday.
"What I’ve heard from my constituents is, we want you to be bold. This is a conversation starter."
The four Democrats who stood before reporters to explain their proposal to the Capitol press corps represent a geographically diverse cross section of the state. That group included Rep. Metsa from the Iron Range, Rep. Jon Applebaum of Minnetonka, Rep. Alice Hausman from St. Paul and Rep. Tina Liebling from Rochester.
They also range in age from 31 to 72, and say they're fielding more calls from residents of their districts of all ages and walks of life, wanting to know when the state will make the drug legal.
"There’s been a real change in attitude across the country, a real change of attitude across Minnesota," Rep. Liebling asserted.
She said legalizing pot for recreational use would alleviate many of the downsides of the prohibition of cannabis, including racial disparities in enforcement of lower level drug offenses.
"Prohibition creates a lot of harms, for instance putting people who need marijuana and buy it on the black market into contact with a criminal element, something that could be avoided if they could buy their marijuana legally."
Rep. Applebaum says that legalization of recreational marijuana is inevitable, considering that eight states and the District of Columbia have moved in that direction already.
He views legalization as an opportunity to foster private industry and collect tax revenue from a drug already being used by Minnesotans. The state would also create purity standards to monitor manufacturers and retailers for quality control.
"We have a billion dollar opportunity here, to create a Made-in-Minnesota economy whereby Minnesota farmers can grow cannabis products, Minnesota businesses can distribute cannabis, and Minnesota small businesses can sell it."
Governor Dayton Thursday reaffirmed his opposition to the idea of recreational pot, citing the fears of law enforcement -- the same groups that opposed starting Minnesota's limited medical cannabis program.
When asked about a point supporters make -- that alcohol has had more damaging effects of people and yet is legal -- Dayton said he isn't persuaded by that argument.
"I don’t disagree about the perils and pitfalls of alcohol, particularly alcohol abuse," Dayton remarked. "So do we want to add yet another drug to that mix, and subject our society to the same risks involved?"
By taking the question straight to voters via a constitutional amendment they can bypass Governor Dayton's desk. In Minnesota governors don't have the power to block amendments from going on the ballot.
But, because the state lacks a direct initiative and referendum system, only the legislature can place an amendment on the statewide ballot. And at this point Republican leadership, and many Democrats, oppose the idea.
Republican Rep. Tony Cornish, who heads the powerful public safety committee in the Minn. House, told KARE he will not schedule any of the recreational marijuana bills for hearings.
"It won't pass out of the House or the Senate. It’s going to have to be a certain makeup of the legislature to see this get off the ground, and I certainly won’t give it a hearing," Rep. Cornish
Rep. Cornish, who spent 32 years in law enforcement, is not moved by the argument that legalizing marijuana will free police to focus on more serious crimes and terrorism.
"Their tradeoff they say would be less arrests for illegal drugs but you also have the problems of people robbing people with drugs and transporting it out of state where it’s not legal, and people here coming to buy it from other states."
Backers of legalization, in weighing the risks of cannabis verses legal substances, point out there's no such thing as a marijuana overdose. They also challenge the notion that it's a precursor or "gateway" drug to harder prescription drugs and underground narcotics.
But Cornish cites law enforcement experience of marijuana being present and many raids and undercover operations targeting harder drugs.
now we had a lot of Ron Paul people in MN
maybe they could help push this along?