Come Monday, the Duluth City Council could adopt an ordinance designating where medical marijuana growing  operations or dispensaries are allowed to set up shop in the future.Alternatively, city councilors could opt to amend the proposed ordinance, effectively shrinking the zone in which marijuana operations could locate.Although he was absent from Thursday’s agenda session meeting, 5th District Councilor Jay Fosle has proposed the city increase the required setback from residential developments.The Duluth Planning Commission called for a minimum setback of 200 feet in a motion that passed by a 6-1 vote last month.

If Minnesota approves limited industrial hemp growth, a state senator with a long-time law enforcement background fears recreational marijuana use will be close behind.

"To me, it is baby steps toward recreational marijuana and I think we will find that out by the end of the session," Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, said Wednesday after a committee approved a bill to allow hemp to be grown by researchers.

Ingebrigtsen predicted attempts will be made to amend the hemp bill to include recreational marijuana use. Minnesota law allows a limited use of medical marijuana, but recreational use remains illegal.

Sen. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, brought the hemp bill to the Senate Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Finance Division.

St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson speaks at a news conference March 25 about the dangers of a concentrated marijuana extract known as butane hash oil.(Photo: Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Public Safety)

Story Highlights

• Two teens overdosed in Duluth after using the drug
• Marijuana wax doesn't produce an odor, making it harder to detect
• Be aware of the signs of manufacturing or using Butane hash oil

Marijuana wax has been identified as a new threat to public safety in what seems to be a never-ending movement to find new ways to get high (or higher) on weed.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety issued a warning recently about the dangers of marijuana wax.

ST. PAUL — Law enforcement officials from Duluth and across Minnesota on Wednesday issued a warning about an increasingly popular form of marijuana that can be six times more potent than the traditional form of the drug. Called marijuana wax, the manufacture of the drug has been blamed for the death of a St. Cloud woman. Marijuana wax also is blamed for recent overdose cases involving two Duluth teenagers.

Wax is a street name for this type of marijuana concentrate, and is also known as butane hash oil, honey oil, budder, dabs and 710. It has a similar consistency as butter or honey.

The wax itself is dangerous, officials say, but the manufacture of the product presents a grave safety risk to the public.

MONTEVIDEO, Minn. – An eight-year-old girl whose parents worked to pass legislation legalizing medical marijuana in Minnesota has died from a rare neurological disease causing severe seizures.

Katelyn Pauling's death comes just months before medical marijuana becomes available to families in Minnesota, as the first distribution center opens in Minneapolis on July 1.

"She put a face to the kids that are hurting," said Jeremy Pauling, her father. "She changed a lot of people in a lot of different ways, not only at the State Capitol, but our community and kids in our community. I think they will grow up better because of it."

Minnesota could wind up being a standout medical cannabis state in at least one regard: It’s been able to glide through the rulemaking and licensing process relatively smoothly.

At least so far.

Many states have taken years to implement MMJ laws, develop regulations and get the first businesses up and running. Minnesota, on the other hand, passed a law just last spring legalizing non-smokeable medical cannabis, and dispensaries are now on track to open to the public on July 1.

“We are aiming to open three of our four dispensaries in July, and hopefully the fourth one will be in August,” said Dr. Kyle Kingsley, CEO of Minnesota Medical Solutions (also known as MinnMed).

Minnesota medical marijuana manufacturers have lined up several dispensary sites throughout state and are set to have the first harvest over the next few weeks.

In Minneapolis, construction is under way on the city's first dispensary — a standalone 100-year-old downtown building that once housed the League of Catholic Women. This summer, it is expected to be one company's flagship dispensary.

The state Department of Health has approved two manufacturers, LeafLine Labs and Minnesota Medical Solutions, also known as MinnMed, to grow, process and sell medical cannabis in pill or oil form to Minnesotans starting July 1.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP/KTTC) -- Minnesota's nascent medical marijuana industry is now unionizing, according to a report from Minnesota Public Radio.

The United Food and Commercial Workers says it has organized one of the state's two medical cannabis production facilities.

The union represents a handful of employees at Minnesota Medical Solutions, in Otsego, the first facility expected to be up and running by July 1, the first day medical cannabis can be dispensed in Minnesota. Bernie Hesse, an organizer with UFCW Local 1189, says his union is also talking to LeafLine about organizing staff at its facility in Cottage Grove.

Medical cannabis worker may be a new job in Minnesota, but the industry already has a union.

Minnesota's United Food and Commercial Workers chapter says it has organized workers at one of the state's two medical cannabis production facilities.

It's small at the moment. There are only a handful of employees at Minnesota Medical Solutions, the first facility expected to be up and running, said Bernie Hesse, organizer at the South St. Paul-based UFCW Local 1189.

"The UFCW has been working on this in multiple states," Hesse said. "We see a real potential for development, and I'll be using the word growth a lot, which people giggle about, but a lot of growth in this industry."

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Regulators of Minnesota's new medical cannabis program are seeking to certify laboratories to test the marijuana cultivated for medicinal use.

The Department of Health advertised Tuesday for specialized labs to test for "content, contamination and consistency" of the drug. Applications are due next month and labs should be chosen by mid-April.

It's the latest move to get Minnesota's limited medical marijuana program off the ground by summer.

Lawmakers legalized medical marijuana for a handful of conditions like cancer, HIV and AIDS last year. It will be available in pill, oil or vaporized form but eligible patients won't be allowed to get it in plant form for smoking.