As marijuana bill poised to become law, there are still issues to address

Minnesota is about to become the 23rd state in the nation to approve the use of recreational marijuana by adults. Both the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate approved legalization last week. The bills now go to a conference committee to work out the final wording of a bill that will again need to be passed by both houses before moving to the Governor’s office for his approval. Gov. Tim Walz has said he will sign a marijuana bill if passed.
In recent years the trend has definitely been to towards legalization. Some states have given the okay to recreational use while others have approved only medical use, medical use and decriminalization, some decriminalization only and some CBD with THC only. In fact, only four states, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas and South Carolina have a total ban on marijuana.
Currently in Minnesota medicinal use is legal and use has been decriminalized.
Arguments can be made in favor of legalization. Prohibition, like earlier prohibitions of alcohol, have not worked.
Statistics show that blacks are more likely to be arrested for marijuana violations than whites even though usage among the races is about the same. And a marijuana conviction, even for non-felonies levels, can have long lasting effects for the individual in regards to employment and housing as two examples.
The issue of legalization is obviously not black and white. The legislation that will become law in Minnesota will address some of those issues but there are other, just as important, that are not being addressed.
When the law does take effect, convictions for misdemeanor offenses will be expunged from the individual’s record. Felony level offenses will need to be reviewed by an expungement board.
But, and it is a big but, there are still some serious issues that need to be addressed, if not in the actual legislation, in additional actions that must be taken by the state.
Sen. Carla Nelson, who represents Dodge County and also Byron, brought up some goods points during the debate over the Senate version of the bill.
Two of these involved local government oversight of marijuana sales in the community and also how usage will affect law enforcement.
The House bill, as passed, does not allow for local control. It will be up to a state Office of Cannabis Management that will determine, by population, how many licenses a locality should have. The Senate bill does give cities the ability to limit the number of licenses that could be issued although they would not be permitted to completely ban sales locally.
After Senate passage of the bill, Nelson released a statement that “We think local control is best, but this bill is limiting their ability to what is best for their communities. They will be left dealing with higher costs, more public safety calls, and not enough resources to handle the community safety concerns they already are struggling with.”
Another issue that has been raised by many is the effect the bill will have on law enforcement, especially given the fact that unlike sobriety tests, there currently is no roadside test available that would allow officers to determine whether a driver is under the influence of marijuana.
Concerns have also been raised about whether there are enough provisions in the bills to ensure that kids are not set on a path to develop potentially harmful habits. A bill passed into law last year that allowed the sale of THC edibles has been widely criticized for not putting in place provisions to deal with those edibles frequently being manufactured to look like candy or treats which are inherently attractive to kids.
And, of course, there is also the fact that marijuana is still illegal as a Schedule 1 drug under federal law.
Are there compelling reasons for marijuana use to be completely banned? No. Are there very valid reasons to be cautious and skeptical about whatever bill is approved by the conference committee and ultimately passed into law? Definitely yes.
The last thing the state legislature needs to be doing is spending the future sessions trying to fix problems that were not dealt with in the first place.