Minnesota’s medical marijuana program could undergo sweeping changes under a new House bill that aims to increase patient access and ease restrictions on producers.

The state’s two medical marijuana producers could open twice as many dispensaries under the proposal from state Rep. Heather Edelson, DFL-Edina. Parents of adolescent patients would also be allowed to administer the medicine on school grounds.

Those are among several changes that the bipartisan bill would make to the state’s medical marijuana law, which was passed in 2014. Edelson said she hopes her proposal will make needed changes to a law that is widely seen as one of the most restrictive in the country; the plant form of marijuana is banned, and only patients with one of 13 severe conditions can use the pills and oils that are legal.

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WASHINGTON — Proponents of ending the federal ban on marijuana have picked up a powerful ally.

The National Cannabis Roundtable will be spearheaded by former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who already is involved in the marijuana business as a member of the board of advisors of Acreage Holdings, one of the nation’s largest cannabis cultivation, retail and real estate companies.

Boehner will provide advice and serve as honorary chairman of the roundtable.

“The states have led on this,” Boehner said Friday in a conference call with reporters. “The federal government is lagging behind.”

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COLUMBUS — About 13,000 Ohioans now carry state-issued cards allowing them to use medical marijuana, and retail dispensaries have reported more than a half-million dollars in sales since the first four opened their doors just three weeks ago.

But not a single processor has been given the green light to start fashioning Ohio-grown marijuana into the oils, tinctures, edibles, patches, and other forms allowed for use, so loose-leaf plant material remains the only option on shelves for the immediate future.

The Ohio Medical Marijuana Advisory Committee on Thursday continued to check on the gradual progression of the state’s nascent program.

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