ST. PAUL -- Backers of legalizing recreational marijuana are readying for another push at the Minnesota Legislature, even as opponents form a coalition to fight it.

Paul Aasen is with the Minnesota Safety Council:

We are very concerned about impairment in the workplace, and every place.

House Democratic Majority Leader Ryan Winkler responds:

Using criminal justice as a way to regulate a substance that most people can use safely and moderately doesn't make any sense. We don't do that for cigarettes. We don't do it for alcohol. We should not do it for cannabis.

Winkler says in addition to improving the bill and taking feedback from a wide range of groups...

We are also going to be working with as many senators as we can to build support in the Minnesota Senate, with the possibility -- however unlikely -- of getting some kind of vote in the Minnesota Senate this year.

Moves to legalize recreational marijuana face stiff opposition in the Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate.

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On Monday a coalition of groups ranging from the Minnesota Trucking Association to the Minnesota Catholic Conference launched a push against legalizing recreational marijuana.

This story is courtesy of the Minnesota News Network.  

It could well be an issue this fall when the entire legislature is on the ballot.

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