All this week WCCO Radio is taking a look back at some of the top local news stories of 2023. Today, WCCO's Mark Freie has more on Minnesota legalizing recreational marijuana.
Minnesota became the 23rd state to make recreational marijuana legal when Governor Tim Walz signed the 321-page bill into law on May 30th. The bill spent months in the legislative committees as it looked address of myriad of issues.
“It addressed everything from trying to set up a new legal market, the licenses and the dispensaries, and trying to deal with the public safety and public health issues that are tied in with cannabis,” said DFL Rep. Zack Stephenson, who authored the House-version of the bill. “The bill did have to go through almost every committee in the legislature in order to make sure that we addressed every topic correctly. It was a very long journey and it had to do the same thing over in the Senate.”
The new law means adults 21 and older can possess and travel the state with:
- 2 ounces of cannabis flower
- 8 grams of concentrate
- 800 milligrams worth of THC edibles/seltzers
Recreational marijuana’s legalization included a 10 percent tax starting July 1.
Stephenson said that his interest making marijuana legal came from conversations with his constituents long before the 2023 legislative session.
“During the 2022 election, which course came right before the 2023 session, I was hearing from my constituents consistently that they wanted to see a cannabis legalized in Minnesota,” Stephenson said. “They thought that the existing laws weren't working and that we needed to make a change we. The legislature had engaged in a really developed outreach effort all across the state having town hall meetings and hearing from people about what they wanted to see in a new system of laws around marijuana. We had done a lot of outreach and a lot of listening and heard the very consistent message that our old laws weren't working. It was time for a change we needed to do something different.”
Governor Walz echoed that sentiment during May’s bill signing.
“We’ve known for too long that prohibiting the use of cannabis hasn’t worked. By legalizing adult-use cannabis, we’re expanding our economy, creating jobs, and regulating the industry to keep Minnesotans safe,” Governor Walz said. “Legalizing adult-use cannabis and expunging or resentencing cannabis convictions will strengthen communities. This is the right move for Minnesota.”
Office of Cannabis Management
Minnesota’s newly established Office of Cannabis Management is tasked with overseeing the state’s marijuana industry.
Governor Walz appointed Erin DuPree to head the office who stepped down one day later after reports found she sold illegal products at her Apple Valley business, Loonacy Cannabis Co.
Walz told WCCO Radio on December 21st that he’s still in the process of selecting the office’s next leader. Charlene Briner has been serving as interim director.
“When you have an interim director like Charlene Briner, I think Republicans even have that respect,” Walz said. “We tried to get some of these people in there who have done this before. I am very focused on this and I said anything that deals with cannabis now I get briefed on immediately.”
Despite the lack of a full-time leader, the office says it expects to launch adult-use sales statewide by early 2025 as originally planned.
“They're in the right space,” Walz said. “I worry about this. I think the public has every right to be a bit concerned about it.”
In early December Minnesota health officials warned about products with THC levels over the state’s legal limit.
Minnesota allows beverages and edibles to have five milligrams of THC per serving. In some instances, products hundreds of time above the legal limit were being sold.
“I want to thank the Minnesota Department of Agriculture with support Minnesota Department of Health check. We've got people out there selling things that are way above the limit for people and are not good. I would just put that caution out there. I want to thank those folks. One thing is that they just don't have the inspectors to go through all 3,000 places, but we need to continue to do that people expect their food to be safe and be clean. They expect when they pump gas if they pay for a gallon they get a gallon. These are all the things that the state does. If you're going to buy this product, there better be the legal limit of what's out there.”
Challenging Law Enforcement
In November the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety announced it was launching a pilot project to study roadside impairment tests detecting those individuals who are driving while high.
Office of Traffic Safety director Mike Hanson joined WCCO Radio’s Chad Hartman to discuss the oral fluid testing.
“What it is, is putting another tool in the hands of our trained Law Enforcement Officers to help them make that decision about what somebody may be under the influence of,” Hanson said. “Now the oral fluid testing units that were talking about, yes cannabis and specifically THC or tetrahydrocannabinol is one of the drug categories that it will look for. There's five other categories as well such as the opioids and the benzodiazepines, the methamphetamine amphetamines, you know all of those other ones. It's kind of is a multi-function tool that will help us to tie everything together that that is required in order for an impaired driving arrest and prosecution to take place.”
The pilot project is strictly voluntarily. None of what’s collected during the 9 to 10 month span will be admissible in court.
“This is simply a data collection exercise that's designed to allow us to test and validate the accuracy of the units that we want to deploy eventually to all law enforcement officers,” added Hanson. “Much in the same way that the preliminary breath testing units that are out there right now are used to determine alcohol impairment.”
Highly trained drug recognition evaluators will be equipped with the tests. Data from the pilot project will be compiled and presented to the state legislature in February 2025.
“Road Safety was a big priority for us as we were putting this bill together,” Stephenson said. “I devoted a lot of resources in the bill to law enforcement, both towards developing this roadside test that's going to be piloted over the next several months, but also to training drug recognition experts officers who are specially trained and determining you know through server roadside sobriety test whether someone is under the influence or not. The truth is that it's not acceptable to drive while under the influence of cannabis. It's not safe, it's not acceptable, and it’s criminal. We took it very seriously. We strengthened our DWI laws and clarify them to make it crystal clear that driving under the influence of cannabis is not acceptable.”
Expungement of records
As part of Minnesota’s new marijuana legislation, more than 60,000 Minnesotans could see minor marijuana convictions removed from their record according the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
A Cannabis Expungement Board is charged with reviewing felony convictions and their eligibility case-by-case.
Stephenson, who works as an assistant Hennepin County Attorney, says he’s witnessed how people and Minnesota as a whole will benefit from the legal-side of the new law.
“I was seeing firsthand the waste of resources that we were using. Time, energy, and resources on marijuana cases that should have been used on much more serious either drug cases or you know frankly violent crime. I just saw that with my own eyes and my own experience.”
An unfinished law
The Minnesota legislature convenes February 12th and with the new session comes the possibility of reviewing the recently passed cannabis bill.
House Speaker Melissa Hortman spoke about some of the potential changes with WCCO Radio’s Blois Olson.
“I would foresee some tweaks to the cannabis law because it is a very major piece of legislation,” Hortman said. “I think as people have unpacked it they've discovered new issues or areas that the state maybe should speak to.”
Issues like insurance for establishments selling cannabis as well as tweaking license and regulation requirements are among just some slight changes Stephenson foresees.
“I don't think anyone should think of it as a finished product that will never have to touch again,” added Stephenson. “I always point out that alcohol, the prohibition of alcohol, ended over 100 years ago and the legislature passes a liquor bill that change the rules around liquor regulation every couple years. I expect something similar will happen with cannabis where we're going to be tweaking and modifying the bill for years to come.”
SEE MORE: Part One of our year in review on the DFL trifecta and the legislative session here.