Minnesota Marijuana Bill Gets Historic First Hearing In Commerce Committee
Just two weeks after an announcement by state lawmakers to introduce a bill in the house of representatives that would Legalize Recreational Marijuana in Minnesota, house file HF600 has now been placed on the commerce committee calendar for a hearing this week on February 17th at 3pm.
This will be the first of many Committees the bill will need to get through in order to pass in the house.
Though many believe Marijuana Legalization should be a bipartisan issue with support on both sides of the isle it seems republican legislators are still hesitant to fully take on the issue.
However, just last week during a townhall Representative Jeremy Munson, Republican (23B) did a poll on HF600 and presented the results from the first 1,000 respondents.
Nearly all Republican and mostly female (60%) responses spread evenly across all age groups show:
97% support for medical cannabis program, with 72% wanting to expand this to include the flower (instead of just the oil).
69% would vote for recreational marijuana
53% to 57% split on allowing employers to not hire cannabis user.
Clearly support for legalizing Marijuana crosses party lines when it comes to the voices of his constituents. So why are some lawmakers still unwilling to listen to the will of the people on this issue?
Minnesota NORML the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
has been building a story telling campaign to help citizens to lobby their legislators by writing personal stories that outline why they believe Cannabis should be legal and how prohibition has negatively
impacted their lives.
They have also put out a petition to senator Paul Gazelka whom has been the main opposition in the senate asking him to prioritize cannabis legalization following his statement that "I would not consider legalizing recreational marijuana as a Minnesota priority," and he continued on by saying:
"Just because it's legal, doesn't mean there aren't consequences. We're just starting to learn about legalization's adverse effects in other states like Colorado and Washington. There is no reason to rush this in Minnesota without learning more."
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