Final votes expected this week on bill to make marijuana legal in Minnesota
Updated 2:00 p.m.
Final votes are expected later this week on a bill to make marijuana legal in Minnesota.
A House-Senate panel has resolved differences on the bill to decriminalize possession of marijuana starting in August and allow for retail sales sometime in 2024. A range of newly legal cannabis products would be available to adults 21 and older.
Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, said Tuesday he’s confident of passage and hopes for bipartisan support.
“Ultimately what’s really important is that we change these laws because they’re not serving the purpose they were designed to. They’re causing harm to Minnesotans and need to change.”
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Critics of the bill continue to raise concerns about traffic safety, addiction and youth access as the drug becomes more widely available.
The Senate bill author, Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, said this week there is wide public support for the bill.
“If we don't get bipartisan support in the Legislature, this will be the only place in Minnesota that there's not bipartisan support for this bill with the people of Minnesota,” Port said. “This is supported across party, independents, Republicans, Democrats, people who don't follow the Legislature. Minnesotans want this bill, whether the legislature actually follows suit on that or not remains to be seen.”
It could be a day or two before the bill is processed and prepared for conference committee members to sign off on it, Stephenson said. It would then go to the House and Senate for final votes.
Bill backers say even after enactment they’ll keep considering changes to the program to address challenges that arise.
One of the Republicans on the conference committee, Sen. Jordan Rasmusson of Fergus Falls, said on both the cannabis bill and the bill on paid family leave, Democrats seem to be in a hurry to enact something.
“They have a sense of --let's pass it this session, but don't worry, we can fix it next session,” Rasmusson said. “And I think that's a sign they're worried they're going to need fixes to this bill before it actually goes into effect. My preference would be to get it right first, to think about it, to have all the numbers and data to make the best decisions possible for Minnesotans.”
Port noted that 100 years after prohibition the Legislature passes a liquor bill almost every year. It’s not unusual to make fixes and changes to a large regulatory framework.
Gov. Tim Walz confirmed Tuesday he would sign the bill once the Legislature sends it to him.
"We're going to quit criminalizing folks around this. We're going to trust adults to make their own decisions. We're going to make sure that we have regulation around what's in this just the right way to go,” Walz said. “And then we're going to start doing the work around the expungement of the records to make sure that there's a fairness in what we did. This is long overdue, really proud of the work that they've done. "