Utah Lawmaker Continues Push for Medical Marijuana

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — After a failed first attempt to pass a medical marijuana law in conservative Utah, a Republican state senator is renewing his push for the bill in an online video where he invokes individual liberty, limited government and the memory of his grandfather, former Mormon church president Ezra Taft Benson.

In a video released Monday, state Sen. Mark Madsen says Benson taught him about liberty and the role of government. He then describes his longtime battle with back pain and how those suffering from chronic conditions could benefit from marijuana.

The video is from the Drug Policy Project of Utah, one of several groups hoping to pass a medical marijuana law next year. Madsen unsuccessfully sponsored a bill earlier this year that would have allowed use of edible marijuana products for medical reasons.