Minnesota’s House Health Finance and Policy Committee has voted in favor of legislation to legalize marijuana.
This makes the committee the 10th to do so, meaning the proposal has just four more committees to clear before it can receive a vote by the full House.
“Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make their own decisions about cannabis—and this bill is about providing them with that opportunity,” said State Representative Zack Stephenson, who sponsored the House version of the bill. “It’s time. Minnesotans are ready, Our current laws related to cannabis are doing more harm than good.”
In addition to being approved by 10 House committees, a companion measure filed by Senator Lindsey Port has been passed by six Senate committees out of 18 necessary to put it before the full Senate.
The proposal has now been passed by the following committees in the House and Senate:
- House Health Finance and Policy Committee
- House Education Finance Committee
- House Human Services Policy Committee
- House Workforce and Business Development Finance and Policy Committee
- House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee
- House Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy Committee
- House Commerce, Finance and Policy Committee
- House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee
- House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee
- House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee
- Senate Transportation Committee
- Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy
- Senate Agriculture, Broadband, and Rural Development Committee
- Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee
- Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee
- Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee
The proposed legislation would allow those 21 and older to possess up to two ounces of marijuana and grow up to eight plants for personal use. The measure would setup a regulatory framework for licensed retail marijuana outlets and would establish a state Cannabis Management Office to oversee the legal marijuana market. The measure would establish an 8% marijuana excise tax, which would be added to the state’s standard 6.8% sales tax.
