Minnesota House passes recreational marijuana bill on vote of 71-59

ST. PAUL, MINN (KDLM) – The Minnesota House on Tuesday passed a recreational marijuana bill in a 71-59 vote.

A Senate vote on the bill is scheduled for Friday. There are some differences between each proposal that will likely be sorted out during a conference committee, a joint meeting of lawmakers from both chambers.

Gov. Tim Walz has said he’ll sign the bill as soon as it gets to his desk.

The 300-page bill would allow recreational use for adults and shift a black market into a state regulated industry. Lawmakers started debating it Monday night before adjourning until Tuesday morning, when they resumed discussions and, later, held a vote.

“Our current cannabis laws aren’t working for Minnesota,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman said after the bill was passed. “Criminalizing a product that many people think should be available continues a legacy of racial injustice that is no longer defensible. This sensible legislation addresses racial inequities in our criminal justice system and mitigates risks posed by legalizing the adult use of cannabis. It is time to end prohibition and to move forward with legislation.”

The bill would allow people 21 and older to buy, sell – if approved for state business licenses – and use marijuana. The proposal would create a new state Office of Cannabis Management, tasked with oversight. Minnesotans looking to cash in would apply for business licenses for the green light to grow, manufacture or sell marijuana at dispensaries.

It would also automatically expunge low-level cannabis convictions and set up an expungement board to consider felony offenses in a move that supporters say reflects a core goal of the bill: righting the wrongs of cannabis prohibition that has disproportionately harmed people of color.

“This bill is grounded in racial justice, and represents one of the most significant criminal justice reforms in our state’s history,” House Majority Leader Jamie Long said. “While people of all races use cannabis at roughly the same rate, Black Minnesotans are more than three times more likely to be arrested for possession than White Minnesotans. Through this bill, we are expunging low-level cannabis convictions and making sure that the people harmed the most by prohibition have opportunities to succeed.”

If the proposal is signed into law, weed will no longer be illegal in Minnesota by the summer, but getting the regulated industry up and running will take at least a year, Rep. Zack Stephenson, one of its authors, said. Minnesota would also become the 23rd state to legalize weed.

More details on what the bill would allow for those 21 or older:

• possess up to 2 ounces of cannabis flower in a public place or 1.5 pounds in a person’s residence;
• possess or transport no more than 8 grams of adult-use cannabis concentrate;
• possess or transport edible products infused with up to 800 milligrams of THC;
• give away cannabis flower and cannabinoid products in an amount that is legal for a person to possess in public;
• use cannabis flower and cannabinoid products in private areas; and
• cultivate up to eight cannabis plants, of which four or fewer may be mature, flowering plants.