Minnesota and Nebraska vote to legalize cannabis

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Minnesota and Nebraska lawmakers have just passed bills to legalize adult use and medical cannabis, respectively.

This February, Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler (D) and spokeswoman Melissa Hortman (D) tabled a bill to legalize licensed and regulated adult cannabis sales. If passed, adults could buy and own up to 1.5 ounces of weed and grow up to eight potted plants per household. Sales would be taxed at 10 percent, on-site consumption and delivery lounges would be legal, and the bill would not allow individual cities to ban legal weed deals.

In his opening address, Rep. Winkler said the bill would help “correct long-standing mistakes in Minnesota against communities that have been over-policed ​​and targeted for cannabis enforcement to promote cannabis bans That doesn’t work, ”reports Marijuana Moment. Winkler stated that the bill would also redirect statutory weed taxes to “address the damage caused by the cannabis ban to our black and brown communities”.

Slowly but surely, the bill passed through 12 different committees of the House and finally received everyone’s approval. Along the way, the bill was amended to expand access to corporate social justice licenses and include additional warnings of maximum daily doses. MP Pat Garofolo (R) added another change that would use weed tax revenue to fund a tax break account that could lower the overall state income tax payable by Minnesotans.

“Adopting this amendment is a game changer,” Garofalo said in a press release, according to Bring Me The News. “The Democratic majority that accepts this amendment means that if this bill is incorporated into law, it will lower taxes. Minnesotans are forced to pay, financed with the income from taxes people want to pay. “

Garofalo’s amendment has made the bill more likely to be accepted by other GOP lawmakers, but the bill has yet to be passed by the State House and Senate before it can become law. Winkler said he plans to schedule a vote on the bill this month, but the state assembly is due to be adjourned on May 17 so time is running out.

“At the beginning of the year, a House committee had never passed a law to legalize it. Now we’re about to say goodbye to a bill from the floor of the house, ”reported Winkler in a press email, reports Marihuana Moment. “We have the ability to change laws to improve people’s lives, whether it’s deleting cannabis records, economic opportunities for those hardest hit by the war on drugs, To Help Veterans With PTSD And Serious Health Problems More. “

In Nebraska, lawmakers have now passed a bill to legalize medical marijuana. The bill, originally introduced by Senator Anna Wishart in January, would allow licensed patients to purchase and own up to two and a half ounces of non-smokable medicinal pot. The original version of the bill would have allowed licensed doctors to recommend medicinal cannabis for literally any disease. However, it was changed to include a maximum of 17 qualifying conditions, including cancer, PTSD, AIDS, chronic pain, and epilepsy.

After four months of debate in individual committees, the bill was finally adopted and will be debated in the Senate on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the state’s GOP leadership is expected to reject the bill, and the Democrats will need 33 additional votes to overcome this hurdle. But even if they can accomplish this feat, Governor Pete Ricketts still believes that legalizing medical pots will somehow kill children, so it’s a guarantee he would veto the legislation.

Nebraska voters nearly got a chance to legalize the medicinal pot through an electoral initiative last year, but state police managed to kill the measure with a legal challenge. Recognizing the tough struggle they are facing in the legislature, Senator Wishart is now working with other supporters to include a new medical marijuana initiative in next year’s midterm election.