And Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) was clear at the bill’s first committee stop Wednesday that he’s eager to begin that long journey – with the support of a majority of Minnesotans. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State’s Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus. The House passed an earlier version of the bill in a lame-duck session in December 2020, only to see it stall in the Senate. But with midterms looming, advocates think the timing may finally be right for Congress to take action.

In the Senate, that companion bill passed 5-3 in the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee. A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota was approved in its fourth House committee and advanced through its Senate committee on Thursday. The bill imposes an 8% marijuana tax on top of the state’s 6.8% sales tax to fund the regulatory system. If the legislation passes this year, supporters expect that consumers could walk into a pot shop and buy marijuana in summer 2024 at the earliest. The Biden administration, however, has not made the progress many expected on cannabis reform, and its actions suggest a stance that is still very anti-cannabis. For instance, in 2021, the White House screened staff for marijuana and asked some who tested positive to resign or work remotely.

That legislature-run poll found that 61 percent of Minnesotans back legalizing cannabis for adult use. Lawmakers and the governor have expressed optimism about the prospects of legalization this session, especially with Democrats newly in control of both chambers, whereas last session they only had a House majority. Part of that revenue would fund substance misuse treatment programs, as well as grants to support farmers. Unlike in many legal states, local municipalities would be banned from prohibiting marijuana businesses from operating in their areas, though they could set “reasonable” regulations on the time of operation and location of those businesses. Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

He and Hortman have differing opinions about how quickly the issue can advance this session, however, with Walzrecently saying it would be done “by May”and the speaker indicating it could take until next year. Landlords wouldn’t be able to take adverse action against people who possess non-combustable and non-vaping cannabis products on their property under another change in the amendment, but sober living facilities could prohibit such possession on their premises. Other technical changes are also part of the amendment, including by adding cannabis alongside other drugs in statutes concerning liability for bodily harm and other issues.

2019 Regular Session

The next step for the legislation is the House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee, which is currently scheduled to take up the reform on Thursday. The House bill has so far been approved in the Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee, House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee and Commerce Finance and Policy Committee. The Senate version 11 things people don’t tell you about growing up with an alcoholic parent advanced through the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, though without a recommendation, and will be taken back up by the panel before potentially heading to the floor. People living in low-income neighborhoods and military veterans who lost honorable status due to a cannabis-related offense would be considered social equity applicants eligible for priority licensing.

Whitley pointed to a University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll published last February showing nearly three-quarters of Granite Staters supporting legalization. RaeAnna Buchholz, legislative and coalitions director of Americans for Prosperity, said creating a legal and highly regulated retail market for cannabis would go a long way toward eliminating the illegal market that has been so harmful for users and for society in general. “Legalizing recreational cannabis will make our roadways less safe,” said John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association. Stephenson said the Dotseth amendment was a good idea, but noted his bill already would prohibit smoking cannabis in places where smoking is not allowed under the Clean Indoor Air Act.

House lawmakers begin path toward MN marijuana legalization with first committee approval

Two polls released in September found that the majority of Minnesota residentssupport adult-use marijuana legalization—and one survey showed that even more Minnesotans approve of the state’s move to legalize THC-infused edibles that was enacted earlier this year. House Speaker Melissa Hortman said recently that she expects cannabis reform to be included in the governor’s forthcoming budget request, though she reiterated that the reform “will take a long time” to move through the legislature. Other adopted amendments mandate that marijuana ads contain warnings on impairment and health risks and require equity officials to study the impact of cannabis use. The NH Department of Revenue Administration said it couldn’t determine the bill’s fiscal impact, but that based on cannabis sales data from Maine and Massachusetts, the meals and rooms tax could see between $12 million and $24 million in new revenue if the bill passed.

“It is important to remember that the Legislature has never sent a legalization bill to the governor’s desk — it’s failed in the Senate repeatedly, in both Republican-held years and Democrat-held years. The act limits the amount of retail marijuana concentrate that a patient can purchase in one day to 8 grams. “When there’s going to be a problem – and there will be a problem with a retailer in the future – it’s just not an option for us to point people to St. Paul and say, ‘Go talk to the state government about this,” Scott Neal, Edina’s city manager, told lawmakers. While legal marijuana advocates favor a statewide licensing structure, city officials say they should be in charge of regulating local businesses.

2006 Second Special Session

With majorities in both the House and Senate and control over the governorship this session, Democratic-Farmer-Labor party officials are confident that legalization will be enacted in short order following the extensive committee consideration. Osborne said bipartisan support for the bill in both chambers of the Legislature bodes well for the measure compared to previous legalization attempts. After the news conference, he recalled once booking a man on triple homicide charges at the Merrimack County Jail and then putting another person, a 32-year-old contractor and family man with no prior offenses, in the same holding cell for possessing an ounce of marijuana.

It would promote social equity, in part by ensuring that diverse licensing by scoring equity applicants higher. A proposed revision to delete language giving licensing points to people with prior marijuana convictions was withdrawn by the sponsor following pushback from Port. It would also remove a required marijuana product warning label concerning pregnant and breastfeeding women while instead directing regulators to assess its necessity.

• Landlords wouldn’t be able to take adverse action against people who possess non-combustable and non-vaping cannabis products on their property under another change in the amendment, but sober living facilities could prohibit such possession on their premises.
• Gov. Tim Walz has called on supporters to join lawmakers and the administration in their push legalize marijuana this session, andhe circulated an email blast this monththat encourages people to sign a petition backing the reform.
• Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year.
• However, there would be several legal limits on marijuana use, and civil penalties for violating those limits.
• “I think there have been inequities in this. I’m open to them figuring out how to make it work best.”

Medical marijuana; clarifying duties of the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority; codification; effective date. “I would like to point out that there are three or four Senate co-sponsors on this bill and if you know anything about House bills, you know that having three or four senators is quite a bit of support on the other side of the wall,” he said at the news conference. Democratic Sens. Rebecca Whitley of Hopkinton and Donovan Fenton of Keene told the committee their constituents want to end the ban on recreational use.

There are now 21 states where cannabis is legal for adults, and 37 states have effective medical cannabis programs. The act requires the Colorado school of public health to do a systematic review of the scientific research related to the possible physical and mental health effects of high-potency THC marijuana and concentrates using only funding provided by the general assembly. The act creates a scientific review council to review the report and make recommendations to the general assembly.

But she also warned lawmakers that taxing cannabis at an excessive rate would lower the ability of legalization to eliminate illicit cannabis sales. One offered by Rep. Anne Neu Brindley (R-North Branch) would add a health warning for pregnant or breastfeeding women on cannabis products. In addition, Perez notes that Biden had an opportunity to reduce cannabis restrictions in Washington, DC, but didn’t do so. The president’s 2023 budget proposal keeps intact a rider that blocks DC from legalizing marijuana sales, even though DC’s city council voted to decriminalize marijuana possession in 2014.

Session Laws

The act directs the department to annually report on the number of physicians who made medical marijuana recommendations in the past year, how many recommendations each physician made, and the number of homebound patients ages 18 to 20 years old in the registry. The sponsor of a bill to legalize recreational marijuana for adults has been saying for weeks that passing it would be complex and require many, many committee stops. He said 21 states, including those surrounding New Hampshire, have legalized recreational use of marijuana. Van Wickler said it would be “smart and responsible” for lawmakers to join these states. The limit does not apply to medical marijuana patients if it would be a significant physical or geographic hardship for the patient to make a daily purchase or if the patient had a registry identification card prior to being 18 years old.

Legalizing adult-use cannabis in Minnesota

It would also change criminal statutes concerning cannabis possession and sales, and require state officials to submit reports on expungement efforts. The amendment additionally addresses driving issues, including by adding language to criminalize having an open container of marijuana in a vehicle and promote cannabis-related driver education programs. Lawmakers are working quickly to pass the legislation that was introduced earlier this month. The House version cleared the Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee in a voice vote.

The US House of Representatives voted Friday to approve a bill that would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. It’s a first step toward making the drug legal and attempting to undo some of the damage caused by punitive drug laws, particularly among communities of color. The bill faces an uncertain future in the Senate, but advocates say with Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, they’re more hopeful that the legislation will finally become law. Much of the revised bill that’s cleared both committees is consistent with Winkler’s legislation, though there are a few key changes, in addition to the newly adopted amendments. For example, it adds a new license category for businesses that sell “lower-potency edible products” under Minnesota’s unique THC lawthat the governor signed last year. The governorincluded funding for implementing legalizationin his last executive budget request, but lawmakers were unable to enact the policy change.

It would have given cities or towns options to enact local ordinances regulating cannabis business licenses that could differ from those proposed statewide. Biden took a softer line during the 2020 presidential campaign, saying he would seek “to reschedule cannabis as a Schedule II drug so researchers can study its positive and negative impacts.” He has not yet taken action on rescheduling. “To me, that’s pretty shocking — you would think the budget is an area where he could make a statement,” she said.

Backers of House Bill 639, which would allow adults to possess up to 4 ounces of marijuana, touted the measure in a morning news conference and at a House Commerce and Consumer Affairs Committee hearing in the afternoon. Under current law, adults found in possession how drugs affect the brain of up to three-quarters of an ounce of marijuana face fines of $100 or more. The act prohibits a physician for charging an additional fee for recommending an extended plant count or making a recommendation related to an exception to a medical marijuana requirement.

In addition to creating a system of licensed cannabis businesses, municipalities and counties could own and operate government dispensaries. There would also be reduced regulatory requirements for those licensees, and they’d be able to permit on-site consumption if they have a liquor license, which is meant to ensure that shops currently selling low-THC beverages and edibles don’t face disruption. “The prohibition of cannabis is a failed system that has not achieved the desired goals and has had incredible costs for our communities, especially for communities of color,” Port said at the Senate hearing on Thursday.

The bill cleared the first of what may be up to a dozen committee hurdles when the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee approved HF100, as amended, by a voice vote Wednesday and sent it to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. The House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee passed the legislation from Rep. alcohol addiction & abuse Zack Stephenson in a voice vote on Tuesday. A third Minnesota House committee has approved a recently filed bill to legalize marijuana in the state, with another panel already set to take it up on Thursday. Asurvey conducted by officials with the Houseat the annual State Fair that was released in September also found majority support for legalization.

During Thursday’s meeting, the House panel adopted an amendment from the bill sponsor that would delete a requirement for co-located medical cannabis and recreational marijuana operations to have separate entrances and eliminate the current medical cannabis patient enrollment fee. House members have passed several marijuana-related bills this year, including the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act in April, which deschedules marijuana and helps to repair the racially and economically disparate impacts of criminalization. Both the House and Senate have approved legislation to facilitate and expedite clinical cannabis research and drug development; however, a compromise bill was blocked from receiving a unanimous consent vote in September. Senate leadership is working to advance incremental legislation to address cannabis banking and to facilitate the expungement of certain cannabis-specific criminal records before the end of the current session.