Jesse Ventura: The governor of Minnesota has promised me that legalization will be high on the agenda

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said this week that the office’s current owner is determined to get cannabis legalization over the line.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz secured a second term in Tuesday’s election, beating Republican challenger Scott Jensen 52% to 45%. That wasn’t the only good news of the evening for Walz. State Democrats have flipped the state Senate and given the party control of the entire legislature.

Ventura, who was governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, said on his podcast that Walz called him Wednesday — and shared some news that will excite legalization advocates in the land of 10,000 lakes.

“The sticking point for cannabis in Minnesota was the Republicans in the (Senate),” Ventura said, as quoted by local news station Fox 9 – Minnesota get ready – cannabis will lift its ban. That’s the message I got today.”

Ventura supported Walz in his re-election campaign last month, and the former governor said the incumbent thanked him for his support.

Ventura also said that Walz “invited him to attend the future signing ceremony,” according to Fox 9.

“What honors me is that I was invited when the law is signed,” Ventura said, as quoted by the station. “The current governor said, ‘This started with you, so you deserve to be there and see how it ends over 20 years later.'”

Walz has long advocated the legalization of adult-use cannabis in the state. In January, he and his Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan unveiled a budget proposal that would legalize marijuana.

The proposal included “a tax on marijuana, a measure to overturn nonviolent marijuana-related convictions, the establishment of a cannabis stewardship office, and resources for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse,” according to the Minnesota Reformer.

That proposal met with immediate opposition from a coalition of various companies, trade groups and other organizations that formed Minnesotans Against Marijuana Legalization earlier this year.

Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives have been pushing for legalization measures for years.

House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler helped pass a legalization bill in this chamber last year.

“The failed criminalization of cannabis has resulted in a legacy of racial injustice that can no longer go unheeded,” Winkler said in a statement following his election in 2021. “Adults deserve the freedom to choose their cannabis use, and ours State government should play an important role in addressing legitimate concerns about youth access, public health and road safety. Veterans and Minnesotans with serious illnesses like PTSD deserve better access to our medical program, which doesn’t work well for most people. It is time to legalize, delete and regulate.”

Not only does Walz now have lawmakers on his side, but polls have shown Minnesota voters are also poised to end the state’s pot ban.

A September poll by the Minneapolis Star Tribune found that 53% of voters in the state support legalizing recreational marijuana use, while just 36% said they opposed the idea.

But those voters can still get legally high thanks to a law that went into effect in July allowing the sale of foods and beverages containing small amounts of THC.

The law caught some lawmakers by surprise, who had no idea the law they were passing — which aimed to tighten regulation of hemp-derived products — legalized weed.