Thursday , March 28 2024
Home / Minnesota Marijuana News / 2 Marijuana Legalization Bills Introduced in Minnesota

2 Marijuana Legalization Bills Introduced in Minnesota

Cannabis MN

House File 420 and Senate File 619 aim to legalize marijuana for adult use in Minnesota. Acute details have not been ironed out in the text of these bills, but it is indicated that legalization would begin on January 1, 2020. Local law enforcement officers would be trained on how to detect a stoned driver.

Provisions to expunge criminal records for simple possession are included in both bills, according to Twin Cities Business. Senator Melissa Franzen says that legalization and expungement should be within the same piece of legislation. Senator Scott Jensen, a doctor from Chaska, has co-sponsored legalization legislation.

Franzen said, “I think they go hand-in-hand because the people who have been hurt by the prohibition are the same people we are trying to restore in terms of restorative justice and race injustice with this bill.”

Senator Jensen said, “I think the ship is sailing.”

Jensen doesn’t write recommendations for medical marijuana, but does refer them to doctors that do.

Some lawmakers are in an all-fire hurry while others, mainly in the Senate, are working at snail’s paces with no urgency at all. Hearings are suggested, but it is not known whether they will be held or not. Of course, there are still lawmakers in office that aren’t up-to-speed on the movement marijuana has made in other states around the country and haven’t completely opened their eyes to the fact that legalization is inevitable, it’s just a matter of time.