ST. PAUL (AP) - Potential users of medical marijuana say they hope to counter police concerns about the drug as they work together on a task force overseeing Minnesota's developing program.

When the Legislature approved medical marijuana this year, it also created a 23-member panel that includes law enforcement officials, patient advocates, lawmakers and substance abuse officials. The task force's job is to study the new law's impact, and it held its first meeting Thursday.

Sarah Wellington, a 40-year-old St. Paul woman with multiple sclerosis who sits on the panel, says she worries that law enforcement's concern about the program will delay when patients can start getting the medicine.

The state aims to launch in July 2015 but can trigger up to a year of delays.

More From AM 1240 WJON