MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota will become the 23rd state to legalize recreational marijuana for adults under a bill passed by the Senate and sent to the governor’s desk early Saturday morning.
DFL Gov. Tim Walz has pledged to sign the measure, which passed the House Thursday, into law. While lawmakers said it will take a year or longer for the first retail dispensary to open, marijuana possession will be decriminalized and home growing of cannabis will become legal on Aug. 1.
“The war on drugs has had devastating, harmful effects on our communities,” Sen. Lindsey Port, a Burnsville Democrat who sponsored the bill, said Saturday. “It is time. Minnesotans are ready. Let’s legalize, regulate and expunge.”
The DFL-controlled Senate voted 34-32 along party lines, passing the bill just before 1:30 a.m.
Nearly every Republican senator voted against it, with one abstaining from the vote. They raised concerns about public health and safety impacts, among other things.
“I really think this is going to harm Minnesota like nobody understands,” said Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault. “Not one law enforcement agency, not one law enforcement person will tell you this is going to benefit our state.”
Once the commercial market is set up, Minnesotans 21 and older will be able to buy up to 2 ounces of cannabis flower, 8 grams of concentrate and 800 milligrams worth of…