After months of committee hearings and house votes, Governor Tim Walz (D) signed HF 100 on Tuesday, as he previously pledged to do.
“This has been a long journey with many people involved,” Walz said. “What we know right now is that Prohibition doesn’t work. We have criminalized many people who are about to start the process of erasing those crimes.
“It’s going to take some time to get it working. We’re going to put some people in positions to be able to handle that,” he said. “But I assure Minnesotans that we’ve given it a lot of thought. A lot of the things we’ve learned from other states are written into our law.”
Now, with the governor’s signature, marijuana possession and home cultivation will become legal in the state on August 1, with regulators expected to take 12-18 months to roll out a licensed commercial sale system.
Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, a longtime advocate for cannabis reform and who gave an impassioned testimony to legislative hearings in this session bringing his experience treating his wife’s severe epilepsy, attended the signing of the bill law on Tuesday.
“This was an important day in our family’s life because now Prohibition will end. It lasted longer than I was alive, the prohibition of a plant created by god,” he said. “We were always told that everything was here to be used. Now in Minnesota we will be able to use this plant after years of prohibition ”.
“We didn’t want any family to go through what the first lady and I went through,” she said. “Now, today, they’ll never have to do that because Prohibition is going to end today.”
“I’m pleased to be here with you as we put the end to this piece of legislation,” said Sen. Lindsey Port (D), author of the Senate bill. “I’m really proud that Minnesota is stepping up and trying something new.”
“We’re experiencing this in a way that’s unique to Minnesota, really delving into the reality of Minnesota, which looks to entrepreneurship, which seeks to reinvest in communities that have been harmed, and most importantly, which puts front and center in this legislation is the overcoming of prohibition,” he said.
Rep. Zack Stephenson (D), a House sponsor, said, “While Minnesota may be the 23rd state to legalize cannabis, I think we’ve passed the best bill in the country that Minnesotans can be really proud of.”
“We’ve built a model that’s going to work specifically for Minnesota, and I think Minnesotans are going to be really happy with the results of that work,” he said.
The bill’s signing comes just over a week after the House and Senate approved the bill, which had recently been approved by a bicameral conference committee.
Both the House and Senate had previously passed different versions of the Stephenson and Port legalization bills, but needed the assembly committee to resolve the differences between the respective measures before they could be re-enacted.
Lawmakers have been working hard to get the job done, as the legislative session concludes on Monday. And the governor followed suit with a prompt signature.
Even before the signing, the state has begun building the infrastructure for the new recreational market, first launching a website for the cannabis regulatory agency that will oversee the program, but which technically won’t be established until July, and then issuing a notice soliciting vendors who can facilitate licensing.
Democrat-Farmer-Labour lawmakers point to the outcome on cannabis reform as a direct result of voters leading the party to a majority in both houses following last year’s election.
The legislation that has been advancing through both houses is an iteration of the 2021 House bill passed by former Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D), who is now campaign chair of the MN is Ready defense coalition.
Walz called on supporters to join lawmakers and the administration in their drive to legalize marijuana in this session, and he sent out a slew of emails in January encouraging people to sign a petition supporting the reform.
Here are the main aspects of the final marijuana legalization bill, HF 100.
Beginning August 1, adults aged 21 and older will be able to hold up to two ounces of cannabis in public and will be able to grow up to eight plants at home, four of which can be mature. People can possess up to two pounds of marijuana in their residences.
You will be allowed to give away up to two ounces of marijuana without compensation.
It will take 12-18 months for licenses to be issued and regulated sales to start. Starting March 1, 2025, cannabis companies can receive new combined licenses that would allow them to participate in the market.
Some misdemeanor marijuana court positions will also be automatically vacated, with implementation starting in August. The Bureau of Criminal Apprension will be responsible for identifying individuals who are eligible for pardons in the courts. A newly created Cannabis Expungement Board will also consider criminal offenses related to cannabis, including potential sentence reductions for those still incarcerated.
In addition to establishing a system of licensed cannabis businesses, municipalities and counties can own and operate government dispensaries.
On-site consumption permits can be approved for public events and cannabis delivery services will be permitted under the bill.
Local governments won’t be allowed to ban marijuana businesses from operating in their areas, although they can make “reasonable” regulations about times and locations, including limiting the number of commercial cannabis licenses based on population size.
There will be a gross sales tax on cannabis sales in the amount of 10 percent, which will be levied in addition to the state’s standard 6.875 percent sales tax.
Eighty percent of the revenue will go to the state’s general fund, with some money going to grants to help cannabis businesses, fund substance abuse treatment efforts and other programs, and 20 percent will go to local governments.
A new Office of Cannabis Management will be established, which will be responsible for regulating the market and issuing commercial licenses for cannabis. There will be a designated Social Equity Division.
The legislation will promote social fairness, in part by ensuring diversified licensing by awarding higher scores to the fairest companies. Individuals living in low-income neighborhoods and military veterans who have lost their record status due to a cannabis-related crime will be considered eligible Social Equity applicants for Priority Licensing. Persons convicted of cannabis offenses or who have a close relative with such a conviction will also qualify.
(Marijuana Moment of 05/30/2023)
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