Includes automatic expungement for thousands of Minnesotans, establishes regulations necessary for adult-use cannabis market
SAINT PAUL, Minn. – In a 34-32 vote early Saturday morning the Senate passed legislation to legalize adult-use cannabis and to provide automatic expungement of criminal records for tens of thousands of Minnesotans who have been convicted of low-level cannabis offences.
“The prohibition on cannabis has had tremendously negative impacts on the lives of Minnesotans, especially our communities of color, and it is time for us to change course, create a system that works for adult-use cannabis, and create a regulated market for Minnesota,” said Senator Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville), chief author of the legislation. “This bill has been improved by the tremendous contributions of legislators on both sides of the aisle, members of the community, law enforcement, the business community, and many other stakeholders. With their input, we have created a bill that works for Minnesota, and now it’s time to pass this bill and have it signed into law by Governor Walz, to legalize, regulate, and expunge.”
HF 100 will set up a regulatory framework for the sale and use of cannabis including the creation of an Office of Cannabis Management, which will oversee the regulation of cannabis, cannabis products, hemp edibles, and hemp-derived consumer products and makes criminal justice reforms, including automatically expunging low-level cannabis convictions and establishing a Cannabis Expungement Board to review convictions that are not automatically expunged.
The bill permits a person age 21 or older to:
- possess up to 2 ounces of cannabis flower in a public place or 2 pounds in a person’s residence;
- possess or transport no more than 8 grams of adult-use cannabis concentrate;
- possess or transport edible products infused with up to 800 milligrams of THC;
- give away cannabis flower and cannabinoid products in an amount that is legal for a person to possess in public;
- use cannabis flower and cannabinoid products in private areas; and
- cultivate up to eight cannabis plants, of which four or fewer may be mature, flowering plants.
The legislation now moves to Governor Walz, who has signaled he will sign it into law.
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