Minnesota Rep. Dan Schoen has taken a contract-basis job as security consultant of the cannabis company LeafLine Labs. He will be on unpaid leave until the end of the year, to aid in LeafLine’s clinic operations. He co-sponsored last year’s medical marijuana bill.
 

Minnesota State Representative Dan Schoen, DFL-Cottage Grove, accepted a contract-basis job as a security consultant of the medical marijuana manufacturer LeafLine Labs.

The Cottage Grove police officer co-sponsored last year's medical marijuana bill, and worked with LeafLine Labs when the cannabis manufacturer was looking for cities in which to operate.

A third state official connected with legalizing medical cannabis has gone to work with one of the companies growing it.

Jamie Olson was a legislative analyst and a key figure in the startup of the industry. She helped lead the initial public meeting as the state prepared to select two growers to supply medical cannabis.

Rep. Dan Schoen, DFL-Cottage Grove, a co-sponsor of last year's medical marijuana bill, said Tuesday that he has accepted a consulting job with LeafLine Labs, one of two cannabis companies in the state. 

Schoen said he is taking an unpaid leave from his job as a Cottage Grove police officer through the end of the year. During that time, he said he will work as a security consultant on a contract basis with LeafLine Labs.

He declined to specify how much the job pays, but said "it's less than I made being a police officer."

Schoen said he worked with LeafLine Labs last year when they contacted him for help in scouting cities that would let them operate.

Many states are facing numerous deadlines for legislation, but the marijuana movement keeps progressing through it all. A major cannabis banking bill is making waves, Alaska’s recreational lawmakers just released regulations, and Chile is on the verge of decriminalization. To top it off, Crimean authorities just discovered an island covered for miles with cannabis, as far as the eye can see. We’ve got the latest in cannabis legalization updates – are you in the know?

U.S. Cannabis Updates

NATIONAL

Fewer than 100 patients made it into Minnesota’s medical marijuana program in the first month.

Medical marijuana became legal in Minnesota on Wednesday, after a monthlong enrollment period and a yearlong rollout. As of Thursday, 192 patients had been certified to participate in the program by a doctor or other health care provider and 98 had paid their fees, completed their paperwork and were eligible to participate in the program.

State officials, and the two companies that have poured millions of dollars into launching the program, say they are not worried about the low initial sign-up numbers.

Opioid painkiller addiction and accidental overdoses have become far too common across the United States. To try to identify who is most at risk, Mayo Clinic researchers studied how many patients prescribed an opioid painkiller for the first time progressed to long-term prescriptions. The answer: 1 in 4. People with histories of tobacco use and substance abuse were likeliest to use opioid painkillers long-term.

Washington State, Washington, D.C. and Colorado have blazed the trail for ending prohibition.

Through legal means these areas have adopted the recreational use of marijuana, freed the market for patients, opened the flood gates for entrepreneurs, and tax revenue for the states and districts. Based on research we have complied a list of states that will be vying for ending prohibition and legalization. With an election coming in 2016 all of these states on the list are going to have a measure on the ballot regarding marijuana. These are exciting times, friends. If you live in one of these states, be on the look out in November 2016 to vote for the right thing for our country. Enjoy.

1. California

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (AP) - The Legislature's failure to expand Iowa's medical marijuana law has some parents of sick children looking to Minnesota.

Area lawmakers who worked to pass the proposed legislation suggested some Iowans may relocate to nearby states to access medicinal marijuana. Medical marijuana will be legal in limited form in Minnesota beginning July 1.

Some Cedar Falls families confirmed they're considering their options, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (http://bit.ly/1MsWswE ) reported.

"Obviously, they have all these good things about their bill, but it's proximity. So, you just gave yourselves competition. Minnesota moved forward. You chose to stay stagnant," said Brienna Decker.

At the stroke of midnight, medical marijuana was legal in Minnesota.

Moments later, the state's first cannabis clinic welcomed its first patients.

"We've been waiting a long time for this," said Kim Kelsey, holding up a small white pill bottle containing a week's supply of cannabis pills outside. The Minnesota Medical Solutions clinic in downtown Minneapolis opened its doors just after midnight July 1 for a handful of clients, like Kelsey, who didn't want to wait even a few more hours to start treatment.

"We decided we weren't going to make them an extra nine hours," said MinnMed CEO Dr. Kyle Kingsley. "It's really an honor to serve the first three patients in Minnesota."

On Wednesday, Minnesota steps into the strange new world of the marijuana business.

Never mind that the federal government says marijuana is as dangerous as heroin, putting both in the Schedule 1 category of controlled substances. Starting Wednesday, pot pills will go on sale as medical marijuana.

“I must say this is really very odd. We are talking about a Schedule 1 drug,” said Beth Hundley of Golden Valley, who will be buying the marijuana for her epileptic 3-year-old daughter.

The little pills contain more uncertainty than any medicine has before it.

They can’t be made by big companies, which won’t touch an illegal drug — so Minnesota has licensed two home-grown startups to do it.