Minnesota State Sen. Opposes Marijuana Legalization: It Could Put Drug-Sniffing Dogs Out Of Work

Members of yet another Minnesota House committee have advanced a measure to legalize marijuana.

The House Education Finance Committee approved the bill from Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) in a voice vote just days after it advanced through the House Human Services Policy Committee, reported Marijuana Moment.

"Minnesotans are ready for this change," Stephenson said. "Our current laws about cannabis are doing more harm than good, and Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make their own decisions about cannabis."

The state Senate's version of the legislation, backed by Sen. Lindsey Port (D), was passed by the chamber's Transportation Committee on Monday, also in a voice vote.

GOP Lawmaker's Strange Justification For Opposing Legalization

Port's chamber colleague Sen. John Jasinski is against efforts to legalize marijuana as the move would result in the early retirement of drug-sniffing dogs, as per Heartland Signal's tweet.

Minnesota State Sen. John Jasinski (R) argues against legalizing marijuana because it will result in early retirement for drug-sniffing dogs: "The police dog discussion ... that's a big issue." pic.twitter.com/gnYEQKmhhb

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) February 16, 2023

Jasinski called police dog retirement a "big issue" since it's "going to cost our local law enforcement agencies … who spent thousands and thousands of dollars on these dogs to get them drug trained."

Experiencing firsthand the cost of getting a police dog since he did a fundraising campaign to raise money for the cause while he served as mayor of Faribault.

"Now that money is going to go away because the dogs can't be used anymore," he said, adding, "it's a huge cost there."

The latest push against legalization efforts, which Democrats spearheaded, comes on the heels of state senator Glenn H. Gruenhagen's (R) recent statement that their agenda is 'extreme.'

"The sheer volume of research and data we have about the dangers of legalizing marijuana would stop most reasonable people in their tracks. Unfortunately, Democrats do not seem to care," he wrote in a post on the Minnesota Republicans webpage.

He also stressed the issue of higher rates of pediatric cannabis edibles exposure. "Last year's law that legalized cannabis edibles in Minnesota is already having terrible consequences for children," he continued, referring to a story published in Post Bulletin saying there were 94 children under six who were reported to have accidentally ingested edibles in 2022.

Photo: Courtesy of Alexander Naglestad on Unsplash