The long and winding road for medical marijuana in Minnesota continued Friday as a Senate health committee passed a bill authorizing its use.

The bill passed on a 7-3 bipartisan vote — with a handful of amendments added to appease its critics.

With its ultimate fate still in question, the proposal is expected to be considered by two more Senate committees next week.

Because of concerns voiced by law enforcement groups and doctors, Gov. Mark Dayton last month proposed giving some patients with seizure disorders access to medical marijuana in research studies rather than allowing the broader access sought by bill supporters.

But patient advocates argued that studies alone won’t help — in part because research is stymied by federal regulations.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said Friday that he expects the Senate to vote on a bill this session. However, he said, he hoped for legislation that would be unopposed by law enforcement groups.

“I have asked the authors to try and work with law enforcement and get it — mitigate their concerns to the extent that we can, knowing that we’re probably not going to be able to mitigate all of them,” Bakk said.

“But to the extent we can get it in a position where law enforcement might be neutral is kind of an ideal situation.”

Whether that’s possible is unclear, Bakk added.

The bill sponsored by Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, would permit patients with certain health conditions up to 2 1/2 ounces of usable cannabis from a state-licensed dispensary. Doctors would have to certify that a patient might benefit.

The state Health Department would issue identification cards to qualifying patients.

Dibble’s bill would let those patients smoke the marijuana. Compromise legislation in the House would require patients to ingest the drug as a pill or in some other form.

“What we’re hoping to achieve is allowing seriously ill patients to access medical marijuana … under a very limited basis, under a fairly strict regiment,” Dibble said at Friday’s hearing.

The Senate committee approved an amendment presented by Dibble to improve standards for dispensary operators and grant the health commissioner more regulatory authority.

After lengthy debate, a revised amendment was approved, authorizing a study to examine the medical effects of marijuana.

The original amendment essentially would have gutted Dibble’s bill. It was introduced by Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, who said more study is needed to address concerns voiced by Dayton, police groups and addiction treatment professionals.

She was supported by Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester, who argued that legislation without such data would create a “wild west of medicine.”

Dibble said that description was an “overstatement.” He said there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that supports the benefits of medical marijuana.

Dibble said federal regulations have prevented studies on the medicinal possibilities and patients need help now. They can’t wait for more research, he said.

Dr. Sue Sisley, a psychiatrist from the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said that tough rules in Arizona have helped ensure that medical marijuana in the state “does not veer into a recreational program.”

“The sky hasn’t fallen in the 20 states that have these laws on the books,” Sisley told the committee.

Rather than gutting Dibble’s bill, the committee adopted a version of Rosen’s study amendment that simply tacked it onto the legislation. In its final form, Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, joined six Democratic-Farmer-Labor members in voting to support the bill.

Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center, joined Nelson and Rosen to vote against the bill.

“There’s a reason we have (the Food and Drug Administration) that seriously studies drugs before we prescribe them,” Eaton said.

Friday’s hearing continued a session from two weeks ago when Dayton’s health commissioner testified against the bill. At the time, the commissioner of human services raised concerns about the impact of medical marijuana legislation on addiction rates and people with mental health conditions.

Patient advocates, however, said they were willing to live with any risks from medical marijuana because they have few other treatment options. In some cases, standard medical treatments are much more risky, they contend.

In March, a House health committee passed a medical marijuana bill that subsequently bogged down in negotiations with law enforcement officials. After meeting with patient advocates last month, Dayton directed his health commissioner to try and find a compromise, but a deal couldn’t be reached.

In one of his last public comments on the subject, Dayton said this month that progress on the issue was up to legislators who had “hidden behind their desks for the whole session while I’ve taken this on.”

The Senate legislation goes next to the State and Local Government Committee.

Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479. Follow him at twitter.com/chrissnowbeck.