Stephenson made it clear that a major driver for legalizing recreational marijuana is that “prohibition does not work.”
“Our current laws are doing more harm than good,” he said. “State and local governments are spending millions enforcing laws that aren’t helping anyone – money that could be put to far better purposes.”
A wide-ranging bill
The bill will need to make as many as a dozen committee stops, Stephenson said, because it would make significant changes in many parts of Minnesota law that include:
- creating more than a dozen types of licenses for growing, selling, transporting and testing cannabis;
- strengthening the regulation of low-dose, hemp-based cannabis edibles legalized last session;
- creating an Office of Cannabis Management to regulate cannabis and take enforcement actions;
- labeling cannabis products;
- taxing cannabis retail sales at 8%;
- creating and funding programs to combat cannabis abuse;
- creating grants to assist individuals entering the legal cannabis market;
- eliminating criminal penalties for cannabis possession; and
- expunging the criminal records of people previously convicted of low-level cannabis offenses.
Amendments
The subject of local control — or lack thereof — was the subject of anamendmentunsuccessfully offered byRep. Kurt Daudt(R-Crown). It would have given cities or towns options to enact local ordinances regulating cannabis business licenses that could differ from those proposed statewide.
Two other Republican amendments were adopted. OneofferedbyRep. Anne Neu Brindley(R-North Branch) would add a health warning for pregnant or breastfeeding women on cannabis products.
And anamendmentfromRep. Jeff Dotseth(R-Kettle River) would require the Office of Cannabis Management to study the health effects of secondhand cannabis smoke.
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.
Public input, for and against
The minimum age to purchase state-regulated cannabis would be 21, an age several testifiers said is too low. They cited research that the brain is not fully matured until about age 25 and can be greatly harmed by cannabis use.
“If this Legislature has any interest in protecting young Minnesotans, it will increase the minimum age limit to 25 and add a THC potency cap to this bill,” said Ryan Hamilton, legislative liaison of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.
“Legalizing recreational cannabis will make our roadways less safe,” said John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association.
Traffic speeds are up, law enforcement is understaffed, and there are no reliable roadside tests to assess cannabis impairment, he said. “How can putting more cannabis-impaired drivers on the roadway make that situation better?”
Other testifiers echoed Stephenson’s admonition that the decades-long prohibition and criminalization of cannabis has not worked to make society safer and has had a devastating effect on minorities.
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.
But she also warned lawmakers that taxing cannabis at an excessive rate would lower the ability of legalization to eliminate illicit cannabis sales.
Sean Hocking
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