A Minnesota bill that would make marijuana legal throughout the state continues to advance at breakneck speed in the state’s legislature.
Earlier today House Human Services Policy Committee in a voice vote agreed to advance legislation to legalize marijuana for everyone 21 and older. This marks the eighth House committee to advance the proposal. Shortly after the Senate Transportation Committee also voted to approve the bill, making it the sixth Senate committee to do so.
“Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make their own decisions about cannabis—and this bill is about providing them with that opportunity,” said Democratic State Representative Zack Stephenson, the bill’s primary sponsor in the House. “It’s time. Minnesotans are ready, Our current laws related to cannabis are doing more harm than good.”
Senator Lindsey Port, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said that “Cannabis prohibition is a failed system that has not achieved the desired goals and has had incredible costs for our communities, especially for communities of color.” She says the state has “an opportunity today to move forward in the process to undo some of the harm that has been done and to create a system of regulation that works for Minnesota consumers and businesses, while ensuring an opportunity in this new market for communities that have been most affected by prohibition”.
The proposal has now been passed by the following committees:
- 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
In order to receive votes by the full House and Senate, the measure will need to be approved by six more House committees and 12 more Senate committees.
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.
