Minnesota House Committee to Hold Public Hearing on Medical Marijuana Bill on Tuesday

HF 1818 would allow people with specific debilitating medical conditions to access and use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it

ST. PAUL - The Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. CT on a bill that would allow people suffering from conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis (MS), PTSD, glaucoma, and HIV/AIDS to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. Testimony on this bill should begin at 6:00 p.m. CT. The hearing will be held in Room 10 of the State Office Building in St. Paul.

Dr. Sue Sisley, a medical marijuana expert from Arizona, is scheduled to testify in support of the bill. Representatives from Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, as well as several seriously ill patients who would benefit from passage of the measure, also plan to testify.

HF 1818, introduced last year by Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), would allow patients suffering from specific debilitating conditions to access and use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it. The Department of Health would issue medical marijuana ID cards to patients and establish a tightly regulated system of non-profit medical marijuana dispensaries and quality control labs. Licensed patients who do not reside within 15 miles of a dispensary would be allowed to grow a limited amount of marijuana in their homes.

"It is well past time for Minnesota to adopt a law that allows seriously ill people to use medical marijuana if their doctors recommend it," said Heather Azzi, political director for Minnesotans for Compassionate Care. "State lawmakers showed leadership on this issue five years ago, but their efforts were derailed by a governor's misguided veto. There is just as much need for this legislation now as there was then, and even more Minnesotans support it this time around."

WHAT: Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy Committee public hearing on HF 1818, which would allow people with serious illnesses to access and use medical marijuana

WHEN: Tuesday, March 4, 2:15 p.m. CT (testimony begins at 6:00 p.m.)

WHERE: Room 10 of the State Office Building, 100 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., St. Paul

WHO: Minnesota House Health and Human Services Policy Committee

Dr. Sue Sisley, M.D., physician and medical marijuana researcher based in Scottsdale, Arizona

Andrew Johnson, MSP City Councilor and glaucoma patient

Heather Azzi, Minnesotans for Compassionate Care political director

Patrick McClellan, muscular dystrophy patient from Burnsville, Minnesota

Other supportive patients TBA

Minnesotans for Compassionate Care (MCC) is a coalition of organizations, medical professionals, patients, and concerned citizens working to protect people with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, and other serious illnesses from arrest and imprisonment for using medical marijuana according to their physicians' advice. For more information, visit http://www.MNcares.org.