MN House Passes Legal Marijuana Bill, Senate To Vote Friday

ST. PAUL, MN — The Minnesota House on Tuesday passed a bill that would legalize recreational cannabis.

House File 100, which sailed on a 71-59 vote, would also expunge misdemeanor cannabis cases, and fund education, treatment, and law enforcement programs.

The measure will now go to the Senate, which is expected to vote on it Friday. However, because the versions of the bill don't yet line up, a conference committee will also need to approve the bill before it heads to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz.

Walz has promised to sign a bill legalizing cannabis.

The House bill states that people aged 21 or older are allowed to

• Use and possess cannabis paraphernalia
• Possess up to 2 ounces of cannabis in public
• Possess up to 5 pounds of cannabis in a person’s home
• Possess up to 8 grams or less of adult-use cannabis concentrate
• Possess edibles with up to 800 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol
• Use cannabis products in private areas
• Grow up to eight cannabis plants, but only up to four that are flowering

The bill also sets into motion the automatic expungement of nonfelony cannabis offenses in Minnesota.

Where you can't smoke, sell, or possess cannabis:

• No smoking cannabis in places where smoking is prohibited under the Clean Indoor Air Act
• Using cannabis products while driving, operating, or being in physical control of a motor vehicle is a misdemeanor offense
• Local governments in Minnesota can regulate use of cannabis in public places, but penalties are limited to a petty misdemeanor only
• Selling cannabis products without a state license is a felony offense
  • Increased penalties for repeat offenders, people who sell to kids, or sell in a school zone, park, treatment facility, public housing zone, etc.
• Prohibits cannabis retailers from operating between 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, and between 2:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. on Sundays.

Read a summary of the bill here.