MN GOP Attacks New Cannabis Law, Fearing Teens & Kids Might Consume, Bill's Sponsor Calls Accusation 'Crazy'

It’s been about one week since marijuana officially became legal in Minnesota and the state's Republican party has already begun to stir the pot. 

State Senator Glenn Gruenhagen criticized the program on Monday in a Republican Caucus newsletter wherein in he called the legalization bill destructive but also laid out a set of accusations.   

Other Republican lawmakers added their voices in a letter to Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Democratic leadership for their “unwillingness to address glaring defects” in the state’s newly implemented marijuana legalization law, pointing to what they describe as “loopholes” related to policies affecting youth, reported Marijuana Moment.

The letter, initiated by Rep. Peggy Scott (R) and signed by 29 other GOP lawmakers, says the Democrats ignored their request for a special session last month to address the problems they’ve raised, including their concerns with minimal penalties for underage possession including what they're calling the Democrats’ "stated intent of decriminalizing marijuana consumption for minors."

Gruenhagen specifically cited a MinnPost article that quoted one of the bill's sponsors, state Sen. Lindsey Port for removing legal penalties for minors caught with small amounts of marijuana. 

Port's Response? “That is just a crazy accusation. We legalized cannabis for adults 21 and older. Republicans have known that the entire time,” Port said in an interview with CBS.

She was also quoted in MinnPost rebuking the idea of throwing teens for cannabis possession. "Penalizing folks for possession of marijuana is the least effective way to end the illicit market. The best way to get young people to use cannabis less is to use real money to educate them in ways that they can hear, which means peer-to-peer programming, and having a legal market where you have to be 21 to buy and you have to go to a dispensary to buy it.” 

The law stipulates it is illegal to “use, possess, or transport cannabis flower, cannabis products, lower-potency hemp edibles, or hemp-derived consumer products if the individual is under 21 years of age.”

Nevertheless, GOP lawmakers argued that criminal organizations might “exploit” the law by recruiting minors to sell marijuana because of reduced penalties. And they criticized a lack of liability for adults who allow minors to consume cannabis at home.  

Keeping Juveniles Out Of The Criminal Justice System  

House research attorney Ben Johnson said that even though the new law does not establish a specific offense or penalty for possession by someone under age 21, it does say that individuals under 21 cannot use or possess marijuana and related products except for certain medical marijuana products. “Law enforcement and prosecutors will have to decide if they believe the general petty misdemeanor provision in section 645.241 applies in this situation and, if challenged, a court may be asked to resolve that question,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, the idea was to make sure that a juvenile arrested for cannabis possession of cannabis would not face sanction or enter the criminal justice system.

Gruenhagen Still Not Convinced

Even though it’s clear that the law does not legalize cannabis for anyone under 21, Gruenhagen persisted in questioning the intentions of those behind the bill legalizing what he called an “incredibly destructive drug.” 

Photo: Courtesy of CRYSTALWEED cannabis via Unsplash

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