Minnesota legalizes cannabis – Cannabis | weed | marijuana

Minnesota has legalized cannabis, becoming the 23rd state to do so. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed the law into law on Tuesday.

Minnesota’s legal cannabis regime provides for the erasure of previous criminal records, although the government concedes it will be a lengthy process. Similarly, licensed stores may take 18 months to become available.

Meanwhile, Minnesota residents over 21 can own up to two ounces of flower in public and two pounds at home. Growing cannabis on your private property is also legal (or will be by August 1st).

Minnesota legalizes cannabis

Minnesota’s legal cannabis regime is joining 22 other states and Washington DC in a movement unimaginable fifteen years ago.

There are legal medicinal cannabis programs in 38 states, including “red” states, which many associate with anti-cannabis attitudes.

At the federal level, CBD and other cannabinoids are legal. Companies have been able to boost small amounts of delta-8-THC, allowing consumers to get high from legal hemp.

Only Idaho and Nebraska remain firmly in the Prohibitionist camp.

But while Minnesota and 22 other states enjoy legal cannabis, meaningful federal cannabis reform is a balancing act.

Congress has not legalized cannabis, nor has it passed banking legislation to support the cannabis industry in states that have legalized it.

In 2022, Joe Biden pardoned all US citizens who believed in federal cannabis possession. The trouble was, no one was in federal prison for simple possession.

Biden’s pardon was a sign of virtue. The only bright spot was the request for the Attorney General to “review” the way they classify cannabis under federal law.

Currently, the government classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it has no medical value and has a high potential for addiction and abuse. Cannabis shares this category with heroin.

Will the US ever legalize cannabis?

As Minnesota legalizes cannabis and joins the states that said no to prohibition, the question remains: will the US federal government ever legalize cannabis?

Cannabis companies have seen stock prices plummet over the past three years. A new Biden administration fueled expectations that legalization was imminent.

When that didn’t happen, investors pinned their hopes on banking reform. Now they are realizing that this will not happen until the next election.

If there is hope, however, it is the legalization of cannabis in Minnesota. Unlike other states, there is no recreational market around Minnesota. As for the Midwestern states, they’re an outlier.

A legal cannabis market in Minnesota could pressure its neighbors to follow suit. The government may wait until all fifty states have legalized cannabis before acting.

There is speculation that Ohio, Florida, New Hampshire and Hawaii will legalize cannabis this year, or at least ask voters to vote on the issue.

An example of the rights of states

The legalization of cannabis in Minnesota — and indeed in any state that flouts federal prohibition laws — is an example of state rights.

States’ rights are often associated with civil war and slavery; Therefore, only racist fanatics invoke this American tradition.

But that’s the opinion of a useful idiot. The USA is a federal state. There is a separation of powers between the federal government and the individual states. There are certain things the federal government cannot do.

Of course, how the US is supposed to work and how it actually works are two different things. If the federal government had stuck to its constitutional limits, it could not have banned cannabis. Not to mention starting a whole drug war.

Many oppose using states’ rights to legalize cannabis and want government to step in with a unified approach.

However, consider the advantages of the local approach:

• Greater local autonomy, allowing legislators to address specific regional concerns. Different states may have different cannabis cultures, requiring tailored regulations
• Fosters innovation by testing many different approaches on the market.
• It is a critical examination of federal power. Ever since Colorado legalized weed, it’s become clear that cannabis has won the US government’s drug war.
• State rights protect minority interests because power is decentralized to the local level. One can imagine that Canada would adopt the state legal approach to cannabis. Ottawa would never have been able to decimate BC Bud with its anti-market policies and excessive taxes.