Cannabis Bill Passes in Minnesota
The Minnesota state House passed a cannabis bill on Tuesday, April 25 legalizing recreational cannabis in that state for adults 21+. Although the bill has not yet been signed into law, most see that as a formality. Representative (Rep.) Zack Stephenson, who sponsored the bill, was confident the cannabis bill would be law by summer.
“Cannabis will be no longer illegal this summer,” Stephenson said. “This is a historic day for Minnesotans who have been waiting for cannabis legalization for many, many years. We’re going to get the job done this year.”
However, as was the case in Canada, making the cannabis bill law is only the first step.
“The regulation, rulemaking and licensing process will take many more months… so it will be a while before Minnesotans can expect to see a dispensary open up,” he said. “Beyond that you will of course also be able to home grow starting this summer.”
Also connected with that bill is the automatic expungement of past “low-level” cannabis convictions that other states have followed including Illinois. It is a bone of contention in Canada where cannabis expungements are not automatic. Relatively few have proceeded with expungement due to the numerous hurdles and prohibitive costs.
Despite a clear 71-59 victory, unsurprisingly there are many against the cannabis bill. Rep. Kristin Robbins was concerned with rushing cannabis legalization.
“We saw sort of the consequences of rolling out the edibles last year with no framework and no guidance. And it was a train wreck,” Robbins said. “And we don’t want that to happen with legalization of [cannabis] because this will have even more significant consequences.”
Keeping cannabis out of the hands of youth was another thing Robbins wants addressed in the cannabis bill moving forward.
“We really need to limit the access that our young people have to these high potency THC levels because it’s really harmful to their brain development,” she said.
Cannabis Bill Vote Splits Along Party Lines – LPC
Also unsurprising was the fact that the cannabis bill vote split down party lines. Democrats and two Republicans voted for it. One Republican, Rep. Nolan West, was for legalization but was worried about the fact that since cannabis is illegal federally, it makes cannabis stores more susceptible to crime.
“Unfortunately, even legal [cannabis] businesses are cash businesses,” West said. “And we’ve seen in other states, they become targets for burglary.”
With the 2024 election already on most people’s minds in the US, an obvious question is whether or not cannabis legalization will become an election topic, much as it was in Canada in 2016. Hot-button topics such as abortion are already being talked about in the media. Can US cannabis legalization at the federal level be far behind?
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