Today, January 5, 2023, the Minnesota House of Representatives introduced its newest bill proposing the legalization of adult use cannabis in the State of Minnesota. As discussed in my blog post last week, the Minnesota House passed a similar bill in 2021, which was never put to a vote in the Senate. This version of the bill, HF 100, is largely similar to the 2021 bill. Particularly notable provisions in the bill include an 8% marijuana sales tax, expungement of certain past marijuana-related convictions, requirements for the licensure application process, the power local governments would have to further restrict the sale and use of recreational marijuana, and provisions focused on social equity applicants.
HF 100 has 19 co-authors, including new DFL Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman. The bill will now be referred to the House’s Commerce Finance and Policy committee, and will likely be put to discussion in various committees. Lawmakers have signaled that they would like to get the input of various constituents before finalizing the bill, so there is likely still a number of revisions and iterations to the bill forthcoming and a fair amount of time before a bill may be passed and sent to the Governor’s desk. Stay tuned for further updates and developments.
The current text of HF 100 can be found here.