Medical marijuana bill heads to governor

Published 9:50 am Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A bill to allow medical use of marijuana for terminally ill patients is headed for Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s desk.

The bill cleared the House 70-64 and later passed the Senate 38-28. State Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, and state Rep. Robin Brown, DFL-Moscow Township, voted against the measure.

House lawmakers amended the legislation to restrict medical marijuana to terminally ill patients with severe symptoms.

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The Senate accepted the changes, which made the bill stricter than the Senate version.

Debate in both chambers split Republicans and Democrats, with politicians of both parties on both sides of the issue.

Pawlenty is likely to veto the bill. He has said he shares law enforcement concerns about expanded drug use.

Senate roll call

Votes Monday as the Senate, on a 38-28 vote, approved a measure to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. Voting yes were 34 Democrats and 4 Republicans. Voting no were 12 Democrats and 16 Republicans.

Democrats voting yes

Anderson (St. Paul); Bakk (Cook); Berglin (Minneapolis); Betzold (Fridley); Bonoff (Minnetonka); Carlson (Eagan); Chaudhary (Fridley); Clark (St. Cloud); Cohen (St. Paul); Dahle (Northfield); Dibble (Minneapolis); Doll (Burnsville); Erickson Ropes (Winona); Foley (Coon Rapids); Higgins (Minneapolis); Kelash (Minneapolis); Latz (St. Louis Park); Lourey (Kerrick); Marty (Roseville); Metzen (South St. Paul); Moua (St. Paul); Murphy (Red Wing); Pappas (St. Paul); Pogemiller (Minneapolis); Prettner Solon (Duluth); Rest (New Hope); Rummel (White Bear Lake); Saltzman (Woodbury); Scheid (Brooklyn Park); Sheran (Mankato); Sieben (Newport); Tomassoni (Chisholm); Torres Ray (Minneapolis); Wiger (Maplewood)

Democrats voting no

Fobbe (Zimmerman); Kubly (Granite Falls); Langseth (Glyndon); Lynch (Rochester); Olseen (Harris); Olson, M. (Bemidji); Saxhaug (Grand Rapids); Skoe (Clearbrook); Skogen (Hewitt); Sparks (Austin); Stumpf (Plummer); Vickerman (Tracy)

Republicans voting yes

Johnson (Ham Lake); Koering (Fort Ripley); Michel (Edina); Vandeveer (Forest Lake)

Republicans voting no

Day (Owatonna); Dille (Dassel); Fischbach (Paynesville); Frederickson (New Ulm); Gerlach (Apple Valley); Gimse (Willmar); Hann (Eden Prairie); Ingebrigtsen (Alexandria); Jungbauer (East Bethel); Koch (Buffalo); Limmer (Maple Grove); Ortman (Chanhassen); Pariseau (Farmington); Robling (Jordan); Rosen (Fairmont); Senjem (Rochester)

Republicans not voting

Olson, G. (Minnetrista)

House roll call

Votes Monday as the House, on a 70-64 vote, approved a measure to allow terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana. Voting yes were 63 Democrats and 7 Republicans. Voting no were 24 Democrats and 40 Republicans.

Democrats voting yes

Atkins (Inver Grove Heights); Benson (Minnetonka); Bigham (Cottage Grove); Bly (Northfield); Carlson (Crystal); Champion (Minneapolis); Clark (Minneapolis); Davnie (Minneapolis); Dittrich (Champlin); Eken (Twin Valley); Falk (Murdock); Faust (Hinckley); Gardner (Shoreview); Hansen (South St. Paul); Hausman (St. Paul); Haws (St. Cloud); Hayden (Minneapolis); Hilstrom (Brooklyn Center); Hilty (Finlayson); Hornstein (Minneapolis); Hortman (Brooklyn Park); Huntley (Duluth); Jackson (Milaca); Johnson (St. Paul); Juhnke (Willmar); Kahn (Minneapolis); Kalin (North Branch); Kelliher (Minneapolis); Knuth (New Brighton); Koenen (Clara City); Laine (Columbia Heights); Liebling (Rochester); Lillie (North St. Paul); Loeffler (Minneapolis); Mahoney (St. Paul); Mariani (St. Paul); Masin (Eagan); Morgan (Burnsville); Morrow (St. Peter); Mullery (Minneapolis); Murphy, E. (St. Paul); Nelson (Brooklyn Park); Newton (Coon Rapids); Obermueller (Eagan); Paymar (St. Paul); Persell (Bemidji); Peterson (New Hope); Poppe (Austin); Reinert (Duluth); Rosenthal (Edina); Rukavina (Virginia); Sailer (Park Rapids); Scalze (Little Canada); Sertich (Chisholm); Simon (St. Louis Park); Slocum (Richfield); Solberg (Grand Rapids); Swails (Woodbury); Thao (St. Paul); Thissen (Minneapolis); Tillberry (Fridley); Wagenius (Minneapolis); Winkler (Golden Valley)

Democrats voting no

Anzelc (Balsam Twp); Brown (Moscow Twp); Brynaert (Mankato); Bunn (Lake Elmo); Dill (Crane Lake); Doty (Royalton); Fritz (Faribault); Greiling (Roseville); Hosch (St. Joseph); Kath (Owatonna); Lenczewski (Bloomington); Lesch (St. Paul); Lieder (Crookston); Marquart (Dilworth); Murphy, M. (Hermantown); Norton (Rochester); Olin (Thief River Falls); Otremba (Long Prairie); Pelowski (Winona); Ruud (Minnetonka); Slawik (Maplewood); Sterner (Rosemount); Ward (Brainerd); Welti (Plainview)

Republicans voting yes

Buesgens (Jordan); Demmer (Hayfield); Garofalo (Farmington); Gunther (Fairmont); Hackbarth (Cedar); Kelly (Red Wing); McNamara (Hastings)

Republicans voting no

Abeler (Anoka); Anderson, B. (Buffalo Twp); Anderson, P. (Starbuck); Anderson, S. (Plymouth); Beard (Shakopee); Brod (New Prague); Cornish (Good Thunder); Davids (Preston); Dean (Dellwood); Dettmer (Forest Lake); Doepke (Orono); Downey (Edina); Drazkowski (Wabasha); Eastlund (Isanti); Emmer (Delano); Gottwalt (St. Cloud); Hamilton (Mountain Lake); Holberg (Lakeville); Hoppe (Chaska); Howes (Walker); Kiffmeyer (Big Lake); Kohls (Victoria); Lanning (Moorhead); Loon (Eden Prairie); Mack (Apple Valley); Magnus (Slayton); McFarlane (White Bear Lake); Murdock (Ottertail); Nornes (Fergus Falls); Peppin (Rogers); Sanders (Blaine); Scott (Andover); Seifert (Marshall); Severson (Sauk Rapids); Shimanski (Silver Lake); Smith (Mound); Torkelson (Nelson Twp); Urdahl (Grove City); Westrom (Elbow Lake); Zellers (Maple Grove)