[420 Girl]

Neil Haugerud enforced drug laws as Fillmore County Sheriff, and made them representing Preston in the Minnesota Legislature. Now Haugerud -- who suffers from chronic, severe back pain -- is trying to change drug laws as a medical marijuana advocate.

Haugerud, spent the first months of 2008 backing a bill that would have allowed medical patients to use marijuana under a doctor's recommendation. But when Gov. Tim Pawlenty threatened a veto, the measure died in the Legislature for the second straight year, despite the efforts of Haugerud and other prominent supporters in southeast Minnesota.

Neil Haugerud, now 77, of rural Preston takes Oxycontin, a prescription opium-based painkiller, every 8 hours to manage the chronic pain from arachnoiditus, a spinal cord condition he has suffered from for 27 years. The retired Fillmore County sheriff and former member of the Minnesota legislature is an advocate for medical marijuana. "There are many medical uses for marijuana," Haugerud said. He would like to be able to relieve his pain without experiencing the side effects of the prescription painkiller, which include shortness of breath, drowsiness and breaking out in a sweat.

The bill's backers, who say polls indicate they're turning the tide of public opinion, aren't giving up. Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, and other supporters have vowed to continue the fight in 2009. But Pawlenty remains unlikely to withdraw his opposition, a governor's spokesman said last week.

"Nothing's been exhibited by either side that suggests (a compromise) is possible," spokesman Alex Carey said.

Supporters had hoped a blitz of TV ads featuring Haugerud would propel the bill out of the Legislature and force a Pawlenty veto. It didn't. Murphy, who sponsored Senate File 345 that passed the Senate in 2007 before stalling in the House, said he suspects Pawlenty's opposition has hurt the proposal, along with House legislators who didn't want to vote on the controversial issue.

Opponents of the bill, led by state police and prosecutors' associations, say it could create loopholes for marijuana growers to illegally distribute the drug.

Winona Police Chief Frank Pomeroy points to a recent case in California, which in 1996 became the first of 12 states to legalize marijuana for medical use. On May 16, two licensed marijuana growers in Modesto, Calif., were sentenced to 20 years in prison for violating federal marijuana laws. Prosecutors also charged that the two men violated state laws that prevent growers from selling the drug for a profit.

"The problem is regulation," Pomeroy said. "If you legalize it ... you've got to get it from the growers to the people who need it."

Murphy's bill would have required all medical marijuana users to register and obtain photo IDs from a statewide database. Licensed, nonprofit growers would have distributed marijuana to registered patients. Murphy, a self-described staunch law-enforcement supporter, said his bill contained harsh penalties for those who skirt the law.

"If you're scamming the system and you're dealing the product, that's a felony," Murphy said. "You're going to jail."

Haugerud argues that medical marijuana shouldn't be framed as simply a law-enforcement issue. The former sheriff has spent 27 years battling arachnoiditis, a condition that causes a severe inflammation of his spinal cord. Haugerud said he is currently prescribed a powerful, opium-based painkiller that can cause nasty side effects.

"(Medical marijuana) is a medical issue and a health issue," Haugerud said. "To deny the public the use of medicine is way out of the bounds of law enforcement."

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