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Legal pot bill vote scheduled Monday in Minnesota House

“We’re very close to getting this done and gaining momentum every day,” bill sponsor Rep. Zack Stephenson said on April 20.

Cannabis plant
A grower inspects a cannabis plant at a craft-grow operation outside of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, in 2018.
Ben Nelms / Bloomberg

ST. PAUL — After months of committee hearings in the Minnesota Legislature, a bill to legalize recreational marijuana is headed for a vote in the state House of Representatives.

A legalization bill that would allow marijuana possession, expunge marijuana conviction records and create a new a regulatory scheme for the substance cleared its final committee in the House on April 17, and is scheduled for a vote this coming Monday.

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It's not the first time legalization has come this far in the Legislature, but with a Democratic-Farmer-Labor trifecta in state government, the odds of passage appear higher than ever.

“We’re very close to getting this done and gaining momentum every day,” bill sponsor Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, tweeted on April 20.

While the DFL-majority House passed a legalization bill in 2021, it never moved forward in the Republican-controlled Senate.

With a slim DFL majority in the Senate, it's still uncertain if legalization will pass this year. But advocates see this legislative session as the closest the state has ever come to legal recreational marijuana.

Gov. Tim Walz said he’d sign a legalization bill into law. And a Senate companion bill to the House legalization bill is also close to a vote by all members in that chamber, though it awaits another committee hearing.

Minnesota's legal pot plan

What would legal recreational marijuana look like in Minnesota?

The more than 300-page House bill slated for a vote Monday would allow adult possession with certain limits and create regulations and taxes.

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Anyone 21 or older would be able to possess 2 ounces or less of cannabis in a public place, and 1.5 pounds or less in a residence. Individuals would be able to possess edibles with a total of 800 milligrams or less of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis.

Sales of cannabis products would carry an 8% state tax. It's unclear exactly how much revenue legalization would generate, though a University of Minnesota Duluth study published in August 2022 found the state was missing out on up to $46 million in revenue from legal edibles alone, which are currently not taxed. The state legalized hemp-derived THC edibles last July.

Many employers would no longer be able to screen new employees for cannabis use, though police officers, firefighters, people working directly with children or vulnerable adults, health care workers and truck drivers would still have drug and alcohol screenings. Employers can still bar employees from using cannabis during work hours.

On the regulatory side, legalization would create new licenses for cultivators, retailers, wholesalers and other parts of the cannabis business. An office of cannabis management created by the bill would regulate the production and sale of cannabis products in the state as well as the state medical cannabis program. The agency would work with the Department of Agriculture on food safety standards for edibles.

The House pot bill would provide $73 million for new regulations and other legalization-related programs.

THC-containing edibles made legal in Minnesota last July would also fall under new regulations. Sellers of the low-dosage edibles currently legal in Minnesota would need to apply for a license.

Local governments would not be able to prohibit cannabis, though they would be allowed to create “reasonable restrictions” on the times and places cannabis businesses can operate. Those reasonable restrictions include bans on a business operating within 1,000 feet of a school or day care.

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The legalization bill would also automatically expunge petty misdemeanor and misdemeanor marijuana convictions from records. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension would be directed to identify individuals eligible for getting minor cannabis-related offenses cleared from their criminal record and to notify the judicial system. The state would seal the records.

A Cannabis Expungement Board would review felony cases and determine whether a record should be cleared or if the person should be resentenced.

Edibles, drinkables, and what's next

Minnesota legalized the sale of THC-containing food and beverages last year in a move that caught many by surprise, including some of the lawmakers who voted in favor. People age 21 and older can now buy products containing servings of up to 5 milligrams of THC. A single package of edibles — or drinkables — may not contain more than 50 milligrams.

Since then, many small businesses and breweries have launched products like THC seltzers and gummies, but they’re worried the current marijuana omnibus bill could prevent them from selling their products and taking advantage of certain federal tax benefits.

To address that, House lawmakers tweaked language in the bill to create a different licensing track for producers of hemp-derived THC products, which are already legal under federal law. Sellers of true cannabis, which contains more than 0.3% THC and is still illegal federally, would have their own licensing scheme in Minnesota.

Producers of low-dose hemp-derived THC would also be exempted from a requirement to have separate facilities from other products, so breweries would still be able to produce THC seltzers.

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Still, producers of low-dose edibles say there’s more to be done to ensure their business isn't disrupted.

There are some differences between the House and Senate versions of the legalization bill. So, if both versions get approved, members of both chambers will have to meet in a conference committee to work out the differences before sending it to the governor’s desk. Already, the Senate version has a different tax rate than the House version — 10%.

Follow Alex Derosier on Twitter or email aderosier@forumcomm.com .

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Alex Derosier worked as a Forum News Service reporter, covering Minnesota breaking news and state government. Follow Alex on Twitter .
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