Minnesota House of Representatives votes to legalize cannabis, Senate fails to act

On May 13, 2021, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to legalize cannabis in a bipartisan 72-61 vote! This was the first time either chamber of the state legislature voted to legalize cannabis.

Outrageously, however,  the Minnesota Senate’s Republican majority refused to allow the bill (HF 600) or its Senate companion to receive even a committee hearing or vote — both in 2021 and when the bill carried over to 2022. The legislature has adjourned, and the legalization bills are dead for the year. 

There was one bright spot. In 2022, the legislature and governor approved an omnibus bill (HF4065) that includes provisions to clearly legalize and to regulate hemp-derived edible and drinkable products infused with cannabinoids. It allows edibles with up to 5 grams of THC per serving and up to 50 grams per package. 

Still, Minnesota law lags behind public opinion. The Land of 10,000 Lakes has a “decriminalization” law in place  — the penalty for possession of up to 42.5 grams of cannabis is a fine. However, it continues to punish adults for a substance that is safer than alcohol and it also pushes the sales of cannabis underground.

Legalization would create tens of thousands of desperately needed jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenue, and it would reduce unnecessary stops, searches, and arrests that unfairly and unequally target Black Minnesotans. A 2020 ACLU report shows Minnesota has the eighth worst racial disparities in the nation, with Black individuals 5.4 times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as whites, despite nearly identical use rates.

This year is an election year for the Minnesota’s entire state legislature and the governor. Ask your candidates for state House and Senate if they support legalizing cannabis for adults-use. Primary day is August 9.

Minnesota’s medical cannabis program expands; legislature adds flower and smoking

In 2014, then-Governor Mark Dayton signed into law a medical cannabis program after insisting on modifications that made it extremely restrictive and that drive up the costs of medical cannabis. Thanks to the work of advocates and the openness of regulators, the program has improved substantially since then but remains restrictive.

Local advocates, often with assistance from MPP, have petitioned the Minnesota Office of Medical Cannabis to add qualifying conditions. As a result, the program has slowly expanded. The state added intractable pain in 2015, followed PTSD in 2016, obstructive sleep apnea and autism in 2017, Alzheimer’s disease in 2018, chronic pain in 2019, and sickle cell disease and chronic motor or vocal tic disorder in 2021. The health department also approved macular degeneration, but it was rejected by the legislature.  

In May 2021, the legislature and Gov. Tim Walz approved allowing raw/ flower cannabis — including smoking — for adults 21 and older and expanded caregiver provisions. 

Unfortunately, the legislature has not expanded the number of medical cannabis businesses. The entire state is served by only two manufacturers, each of which have four dispensary locations. 

Please sign up for our email alerts so you can stay involved to make sure the program serves patients well. Also, connect with our allies at Sensible Minnesota, who are working on the issue.
 

One of MPP’s 2014 TV ads, featuring patient Patrick McClellan, urging Gov. Dayton not to stand in the way of medical marijuana legislation.

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