Make 2009 the year Minnesota stops arresting medical marijuana patients

Published: January 19, 2009

The Minnesota Legislature has convened its 2009 legislative session, and MPP is busy working with state legislators and patients to pass a bill to protect patients from arrest and prison for using medical marijuana. Sens. Steve Murphy, Geoff Michel, Debbie Johnson, Linda Higgins, and John Marty have just introduced S.F. 97, a medical marijuana bill, in the Minnesota Senate, and we expect a companion bill to be introduced in the House any day now. We've made incredible progress in the last several years and are on the cusp of passing this sensible, compassionate legislation. 

However, we need your help to get it done this year. We ask that all supporters across the state contact their senator and representative today, urging them to support this compassionate legislation. You can do so using our automated system.

During the 2007-2008 legislative session, MPP's lobbying effort led to unprecedented progress. The medical marijuana bill passed the Senate in 2007. However, it did not come up for a vote on the House floor before the legislature adjourned the 2008 session. Prior to the 2007-2008 session, no medical marijuana bill had passed a single House committee.

We are building on this progress, and with your help we can make Minnesota the 14th state to pass a medical marijuana law. Now is a very good time to contact your legislators because, like many states, Minnesota is facing a severe budget deficit. As a result, the state legislature isn't considering very many bills right now, and the legislators are particularly interested in what their constituents are saying.

Thank you for supporting MPP. Please pass this information along to your friends and family in Minnesota, so they can join the effort to pass medical marijuana legislation.