Medical marijuana is now legal in Minnesota.
SAINT PAUL — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz signed into law medical marijuana legislation, making Minnesota the latest state in the union to take a necessary step towards liberalization and eventual recreational marijuana legalization.
The legislation, specifically, permits the smoking of medical marijuana products.
Walz made this reform after he signed the omnibus health and human services appropriations bill into law earlier this week, which includes provisions to expand the state’s medical cannabis program that was originally created in 2014 with qualified patients allowed to start purchasing non-smokable variations of the drug.
The state legislature advanced the omnibus health and human services bill earlier this month.
As Marijuana Moment reports on May 17, a bicameral conference committee approved the reform, in additional other marijuana-related policy changes, as a means to further reform as a part of an omnibus health bill.
At this time, the House of Representatives adopted a variation of the report on Monday, through a 77-57 vote in favor of the report.
The Senate followed suit in a 66-1 vote in favor of the bill sending it to the desk of the governor. Walz noted, signed the bill, and now has approved the appropriations forward.
“This is not about legalization. This is about patients. This is about people who are suffering. This is about people who are in pain,” said Rep. Aisha Gomez, a Democrat from Minneapolis.
“It’s a significant accomplishment and a movement not only towards legalization but for patients to be able to access cannabis for health reasons,” adds Rep. Ryan Winkler, the Democratic House Majority Leader.
“As a result of Minnesotans who made their voices heard over the course of years—whether you are a veteran suffering from PTSD, a person with a serious health condition, or a parent with a sick child—more people will gain the ability to live healthy, fulfilled lives,” Winkler said.
“Without Minnesotans’ activism and personal stories, and without a historic vote in the Minnesota House to legalize cannabis for adult use, this accomplishment would not have been possible.”
