Friends and neighbors –
The more we learn about the Democrats’ destructive bill to legalize recreational cannabis, the worse it gets.
New reporting by Minnpost reveals just how sinister the Democrats were in crafting their bill. While they publicly discussed the law in ways to made it appear simple and common sense, the reality is that it was actually strategically written to decriminalize marijuana for children and allow smoking in nearly all public places, leaving cities scrambling to pass local ordinances to maintain some order.
First, the marijuana bill effectively decriminalizes marijuana for kids by removing all penalties for use, possession, and transportation for anyone under 21.
The bill’s author admitted they did this intentionally.
“Sen. Lindsey Port, the Burnsville DFLer who was the lead sponsor of HF 100 in the Senate, said juvenile decriminalization of use and possession of small amounts of marijuana was intentional.”
Their effort was unsuccessful though, because there is a catch-all statute that covers activities that are illegal that do not have penalties specified in law.
Second, is the topic of where individuals can and cannot smoke. From the article titled When and where can’t you smoke on August 1:
Could someone walk down the sidewalk and smoke a joint?
“Yes, I think that’s true,” said Sen. Lindsey Port, DFL-Burnsville, in an interview Monday. Outside a bar or restaurant? On the sidewalk? On a public bench? Yes, absent a local ordinance that prohibits it to protect non-users from secondhand smoke, she said.
“Cities can put ordinances in for outdoors as they do with cigarette smoking,” Port said. They could restrict it from a certain distance from building entrances, for example. “But assuming that the city doesn’t have an ordinance against it, you could smoke outside, in parks, if you’re a certain distance from children’s play areas.”
A technical reading of the law suggests that it is legal to consume by smoking and vaping in the three places listed: a private residence including enclosed backyards, decks or patios; private property not accessible to the public as long as the owner is okay with it, and — eventually — at cannabis events once the state drafts rules and issues licenses for these up-to-four-day festivals.
But such a reading, while understandable, is not correct, Port said. Those three places are protected from infringement by local governments, for example, but they aren’t the only locations where it will be legal smoke and vape.
Why was that not specifically included in the law? Port cited legislative politics.
“We put in there the most restrictive language in order to get the votes we needed to pass it,” the Burnsville DFLer said. “A number of clarifications on that will come out through rule making” by the Office of Cannabis Management.
This is reckless and irresponsible governing.
Even as the Democrats were carelessly pushing their bill to legalize recreational cannabis into law we knew it was going to have grave consequences. It is an incredibly destructive drug.
As I wrote in February, it poses a high risk for addiction and higher rates of temporary psychosis and long-lasting mental health problems, and it is especially dangerous for young people. After Minnesota legalized cannabis edibles in 2022, we experienced immediate terrible consequences for children: 2022 saw more than three times as many pediatric cannabis edible exposures in Minnesota compared to 2021.
Is this the direction we want Minnesota to go?
Contact me
I love hearing your feedback. If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is sen.glenn.gruenhagen@senate.mn, or you can call me at 651-296-4131.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.fb.com/SenatorGlennGruenhagen.
It is a privilege to serve you. God Bless.