SENSIBLE POLICIES. SAFER COMMUNITIES.
We believe our neighborhoods are safer when they are more inclusive. Most Minnesotans have experienced fallout from the war on drugs. From mothers who have lost their children to the opioid epidemic to children growing up with a parent incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses, it is time to implement sensible policies and mitigate the harms of prohibition and the failed policies of the war on drugs.
Our mission is to make Minnesota safer and more inclusive by collectively promoting policy changes that emphasize compassion over isolation, restorative justice over incarceration, and public health over stigma.
2017 in Minnesota
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New drug policies
OUR CURRENT INITIATIVES
Safer policies to save lives.
Medical Cannabis Expansion
Opening access and reforming the law to make products more affordable for patients.
Adult Use Legalization
Passing the repeal of state-wide cannabis prohibition through thoughtful policy.
Legalized drug checking
Removing criminal penalties for tools that can save lives.
Medical Cannabis Expansion
Sensible Change Minnesota supports changes to the current medical cannabis program that include:
- Removal of arbitrary restrictions on medical cannabis delivery methods;
- Allow patients who live too far from patient care centers to grow their own medical cannabis;
- Provide for medical cannabis delivery for homebound patients;
- Allow reciprocity for patients visiting Minnesota;
- Expand allowable conditions to include chronic pain, traumatic brain injury, hepatitis C, and any condition that produces severe or chronic fatigue, nausea, or cachexia;
- Allow patients who are prescribed opiates to register as medical cannabis patients;
- Permit patients to be caregivers and caregivers to be patients;
- Remove vertical integration requirements for manufacturers and the restriction on the number of manufacturers permitted, modeling programs like Arizona and New Mexico;
- Allow health care providers to utilize tele-medicine if it appropriately fits their practice and patients’ needs;
- Permit the medical necessity defense for those facing criminal charges for possession, sale, or cultivation of cannabis;
- Protect patients subject to parole, probation, or conditional release under Minnesota law from violations for using medical cannabis;
- Allow schools to dispense medical cannabis as they would other prescription medications;
- Reduce criminal penalties for patient diversion;
- Lower registration fees, waiving them entirely for low-income patients;
- Reduce manufacturer application and licensing fees to be in-line with those paid by pharmaceutical companies (currently $275.00);
- Reconstruct and direct Minnesota’s legislative Task Force on Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Research to focus on patients and patient access;
- Allow patients to deduct the cost of medical cannabis on their state taxes as they would any other medical expense.
Adult Use Legalization
Adult use legalization is a hot topic in Minnesota right now with numerous bills in the state legislature. Our team prioritizes the following issues in our discussions with policy makers:
- Vacating and dismissing prior cannabis-related convictions to include full restoration of civil rights under state and federal law;
- Removal of all criminal penalties as they relate to possession and cultivation of cannabis;
- Promote small business growth and economic development for low and middle income communities in urban and rural Minnesota;
- Provide for testing and labeling requirements to promote consumer safety;
- Protect employees, tenants, and parents from unnecessary civil interference for using cannabis;
- Provide meaningful funding to (1) provide grants for legal cannabis business development in low income communities and communities of color disproportionately targeted by cannabis prohibition enforcement; (2) provide funding for innovative and evidence-based cannabis consumer education, K-12 substance abuse prevention, harm reduction initiatives, and community-based recovery models; and (3) provide grants to law enforcement agencies to promote practices that work toward ending mass incarceration and reduce the criminalization of poverty, mental illness, and drug addiction.
Learn more about our legislative priorities for adult use legalization.
Legalized Drug Checking
Currently, possession of harm reductions tools that test the purity and make-up of controlled substances are illegal under Minnesota law. Our team is working to decriminalize possession of fentanyl strips and reagent chemicals that test for adulterants in drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and other “street drugs.” This is a lifesaving initiative for substance users and persons in active addiction, and we are hopeful that the 2019-2020 state legislature supports this measure to give harm reduction organizations like Dancesafe and Southside Harm Reduction Services legal protection for utilizing these tools to save lives.
OUR TEAM
We have the experience and expertise to take on the tough issues.
Brandan Borgos
Brandan Borgos, Esq. is the owner of Borgos Law, PLLC, a law firm that aims to serve underrepresented clients and safeguard human rights in the areas of criminal defense and family law. Brandan graduated with his B.A. in English from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and received his J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis in 2010. He is the former Board Chair for MN NORML (the Minnesota Chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), founder, past-president, and current Advisory Board Chair of Sensible Minnesota. Instrumental in passing the 2014 medical cannabis law in Minnesota, Brandan worked with Minnesotans for Compassionate Care and the Marijuana Policy Project to grant patients access to life changing medicine. He was also instrumental in Sensible Minnesota’s push to add intractable pain and post-traumatic stress disorder as qualifying conditions for medical cannabis in Minnesota. Finally, he worked extensively with the Minnesota Campaign for Full Legalization to develop the 2019 Full Legalization Act, a comprehensive policy outline to end cannabis prohibition in Minnesota.
Jessica Hauser
Jessica Hauser is a cannabis advocate, communications professional, and, most importantly, the proud mom of two amazing boys. She began her journey advocating for cannabis policy in 2014 to change laws in Minnesota so her younger son, who has life-threatening epilepsy, could access medical cannabis safely and legally. Along the way, she learned a lot about federal and state laws and the challenges they pose to families seeking to help their children. She traveled to Oregon with her child to legally try cannabis treatment for him, leaving her husband and older son in Minnesota – a trip documented in her blog meetcannabis. Her son was the first patient registered to participate in Minnesota’s program. Medical cannabis has been an important part of his treatment since July 1, 2015. It reduces his overall number of seizures and improves his quality of life by helping him be calmer, happier and more alert. She continues to advocate for her son and people with disabilities by volunteering for the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota and the D833 Special Education Advisory Committee and supporting the Arc Twin Cities policy priorities.
Andrea Devora
Advocacy has always been a part of Andrea’s life. She was involved in the fight to get Autism as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis in Minnesota and supporting Black, Brown, Native and LGBT bodies’ right to existence. Andrea is also a leader in changing the service industry nationwide. As a single mom who just wants to have a glass of wine, Andrea is no stranger to using her big mouth for the greater good. When there’s an uncomfortable but necessary conversation to have, she will be there!
Heather Tidd
Heather Tidd is an Outreach Coordinator at Dakota Child and Family Clinic where she helps patients find the services they need in Dakota County and surrounding areas. She works primarily with families of children with special needs, she also runs a parent support group and a 4-H club for children with special needs. Heather has been an advocate in the cannabis community since her 12-year-old son joined the program in July of 2015 for Tourette’s Syndrome. Once he started cannabis treatment, his PTSD symptoms nearly disappeared, and she saw that cannabis should be used to treat many other conditions. In August of 2016 Heather was appointed as a patient advocate to the Office of Medical Cannabis New Condition Review Panel, which she now chairs. Heather has served on Sensible Minnesota’s Board of Directors since 2016, and is the current Vice President. Heather has worked on the addition of new qualify conditions for medical cannabis in Minnesota, including autism spectrum disorder.
Gunnar Aas
Gunnar Aas is a drug policy activist from Duluth, MN. He has been working as a campus organizer for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, working to bring young people and students into the movement for a post-prohibition age, and to enlighten his communities on the immense benefits of sensible policies. He recently finished his B.A. in Political Science from Hamline University in Saint Paul, MN. On the rare occasion he isn’t working or studying, you can likely find Gunnar outside working in the garden, and enjoying the local music scene. Aas is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Sensible Minnesota, and has worked extensively with Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
Maren Schroeder
Maren Schroeder, MBA, RP, MnCP is President of Sensible Minnesota and a PACE Registered, Minnesota Certified Paralegal who performs freelance work for attorneys in the areas of family law, criminal defense, debtor relief, and medical cannabis patient protections. She is also the Director of Positions & Issues for the Minnesota Paralegal Association, and a delegate to the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. Maren began her cannabis activism in high school, researching and writing essays about medical cannabis in California and the efforts to legalize medical cannabis in other “early” states. In 2015, she co-founded Sensible Minnesota, currently serving as its President, and previously serving as Treasurer and Vice President. Her “wins” include expansion of medical cannabis to include patients with intractable pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as the introduction of legislation to make modest, but impactful, changes to the law. She worked with Rep. Tina Liebling to start the conversation about legalized drug checking, works extensively on both Sensible Change Minnesota’s medical reform goals, and prepared amendments to HF420 and SF619, working with Sen. Melisa Franzen and Rep. Mike Freiberg to improve this legislation.
LATEST NEWS
Maren Schroeder2019-03-22T15:57:28+00:00
Minnesota Senate Halts Patient Access/Blocks Affordability Measures
Maren Schroeder2019-02-07T17:46:03+00:00
Support of HF 400 and SF 751; Opioid Product Stewardship Bill
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