Readers Write: Northstar and light rail, due process, psilocybin treatments

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Do you value the Northstar Commuter Rail line? What can we do to stop this madness of again giving up on progress in the northern suburbs? I just finished a lengthy but excellent article in Streets.mn by Ian Gaida. It details an abundance of ways to look at saving the Northstar.

It seems odd to me that the proposed bill to kill the Northstar is generated by state Rep. Jon Koznick, a Lakeville resident. Will he feel the pain of losing our transportation on the train? We don’t want a bus; we have a train. As a person living in Blaine — the affected area — I protest! The Northstar has been serving us well since 2009. We can leisurely ride the train downtown for events like Twins games, leaving our cars at parking stations, thus reducing the stress of finding a parking spot and saving a bundle on parking costs.

Maybe Metro Transit could be looking at positive ways to save the train, instead of just giving up. I don’t know details, but have the Metropolitan Council, Minnesota Department of Transportation, Metro Transit, BNSF and Federal Transit Administration all met together in one room to look at how our train can be saved? Let’s invest in our future; don’t shut the door. The challenge is for you to make it work!

I don’t see them giving up on the $2.86 billion Southwest light rail. Do you?

Pamela Patnode, Blaine

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While many have scrutinized the construction costs of the Green Line Extension light-rail project, they often neglect to mention the long-term cost savings of light rail and the related higher cost of operating bus and bus rapid transit services. While light rail is more expensive to build, data from the Metropolitan Council’s 2024 Metropolitan Area Transit Finance report shows that light rail was the most cost-effective to operate out of all fixed-route transit modes operated by Metro Transit.

The Blue and Green lines had a combined average subsidy per passenger of $5.49 in 2023, compared to $6.68 for arterial bus rapid transit, $12.28 for core local bus routes and $15.78 for highway bus rapid transit. Thus, though light rail has a higher construction cost, it is in the long term a much more financially responsible investment for our region than buses and bus rapid transit. This is in addition to its many other benefits such as sustainability, reliability and impact on development that are not nearly as pronounced with bus and BRT projects. Though the Green Line extension has had many issues, we shouldn’t throw out a technology that has been overwhelmingly successful because of one badly managed project.

August Lassig, Edina

The writer is a member of the Edina Transportation Commission.

I had to guffaw/gasp/choke when I heard President Donald Trump’s latest missive that not everybody was necessarily entitled to a trial because this would tie up the system for years to come. This is coming from a man who has a frequent flyer punch card to the U.S. Supreme Court and myriad U.S. District Courts. This gent has been in state courts and municipal courts the country over, including his 34 felony convictions in New York, and his over 60 losses as he tried to undo President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election.

He tied up Congress for many months as it adjudicated his guilt in two separate impeachment trials. Is there a third on the way?

There is the multimillion-dollar loss he now owes E. Jean Carroll for sexual abuse and defamation, the $25 million judgment in the Trump University fraud case, and the settlement he and father, Fred, agreed to pay the federal government for housing discrimination at Trump Village in New York back in the ’70s.

These examples are the tip of the iceberg in how Trump has monopolized courts’ time the decades over, and now he thinks these destitute, desperate, illegal immigrants are not entitled to due process because it would tie up the court system! How many tens of millions of dollars has Trump spent on legal fees while tying up the courts when a Venezuelan or El Salvadoran immigrant is swept up off the streets and illegally deported without even the chance to call their attorneys?

This man wouldn’t recognize irony if it kicked him in the shins.

Bob Brereton, St. Paul

In a time when Minnesota faces a growing mental health crisis related to PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression, substance use and treatment-resistant conditions, HF 2906, the Minnesota Therapeutic Compassionate Use Act, offers a bold, responsible solution rooted in science, compassion and safety.

HF 2906 is a bill that has been introduced to cultivate opportunities for Minnesotans to legally access clinical use of psilocybin, the main psychoactive compound found in a variety of mushrooms. While traditional therapies do not work for everyone, studies demonstrate how psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy can significantly improve clinical outcomes for difficult to treat conditions. I’m a clinical master of social work student keeping up to date on psychedelic research, and HF 2906 provides hope for my clients across the Twin Cities to receive psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.

HF 2906 would establish a regulated, legal framework for psilocybin-assisted psychotherapies. This effort addresses strict patient screening, facilitator training and session supervision along with legal protections for patients and facilitators to support responsible use while maintaining stringent safety standards. HF 2906 includes protections for legal psilocybin practices by prohibiting discrimination related to housing, employment, education and parental rights.

Considering the historical oppression of tribal communities and their relationships with the natural world, HF 2906 exhibits anti-oppressive policy by respecting tribal sovereignty to establish their own psilocybin programs without state interference.

Advancement of HF 2906 would support Minnesota in leading the nation in the expansion of evidence-based mental health care, while maintaining high standards for safety. I urge legislators, clinicians and citizens to support this historic step forward.

Ben Felten, Minneapolis

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Minnesotans face serious barriers to mental health care. According to NAMI Minnesota, over half of the 819,000 individuals with mental health conditions go untreated, with cost being a major factor. Mental health services are harder to access, less reimbursed and more often out-of-network than physical health care.

While a recent bill proposed by the Minnesota Psychedelic Medicine Task Force may appear promising, it risks repeating the mistakes seen in Oregon. There, psilocybin services can cost upward of $2,500 per session, uncovered by insurance and administered outside of traditional medical settings. These high costs are associated with federal taxes and restraints associated with schedule one status of psychedelic substances, limiting efficacy of state implementation of psychedelic therapy services. Similar proposals in Minnesota could funnel public funds into expensive services inaccessible to those most in need.

Research supports the benefits of psychedelics for treatment-resistant conditions, PTSD and substance use disorders as a tool, and not the cure-all that it is framed to be. Creating this new, overpriced system won’t solve our mental health crisis. Instead of prioritizing flashy, costly models, we need to encourage legislators to focus state resources on making existing care accessible and sustainable. That means increasing reimbursement rates, expanding provider networks, and improving coverage options for current mental health services.

Mental health care in Minnesota needs reform, not a luxury add-on.

David Smidt, Excelsior