Legislators in Minnesota Evaluate and Modify Proposed Marijuana Legalization for Adults

Legislators in Minnesota Evaluate and Modify Proposed Marijuana Legalization for Adults

Committees in both the House and Senate in Minnesota changed bills to legalize cannabis for adults. For example, the House Transportation Finance Committee added an amendment to reduce the amount of cannabis a person can keep in their home from 5 pounds to 1.5 pounds, according to ABC 6 News.

The Senate State and Local Government Committee approved a 142-page amendment to establish distinct distinctions between the adult cannabis industry and the industrial hemp industry.

During the hearing, Willow’s Keep Farm owner and hemp farmer Ted Galaty told Senate lawmakers that hemp farmers would “suffer” if lawmakers “rammed” the bill through without making different rules for hemp and cannabis for adults.

State Rep. Zack Stephenson (D), who wrote the bill, told a House committee that he would accept their change to lower the amount of cannabis an adult can have at home when the bill gets to the Commerce Committee, and he would try to get his fellow lawmakers to do the same.

The bill still has to go through several committees before it can be voted on in either house, according to a report by Ganjapreneur. 

During the midterm elections, Democrats won control of both houses of the state legislature, and Stephenson has said that Republicans were blocking reforms in previous sessions. In January, Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said he was “ready” to sign a bill allowing adults to use cannabis.

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