A bill to legalize marijuana in Minnesota is heading to a floor vote after clearing its final committee stop on Monday. Meanwhile, a Senate panel is scheduled to take up a companion measure later in the day.
The House Ways and Means Committee passed the legislation from Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) in a voice vote—marking its last stop before the floor after an extensive journey through 15 panels.
The Senate version from Sen. Lindsey Port (D) will be taken up by the Taxes Committee on Monday evening. That’s expected to be the second to last panel before it potentially goes to the floor.
“The policy that we currently have with regard to cannabis is not achieving any of its aims and comes at a great cost to our society,” Stephenson said before Monday’s committee vote. “Our current laws are doing more harm than good.
The representative also discussed the racially disproportionate enforcement of criminalization and noted the fiscal cost of prohibition.
“I speak from experience. I’m a prosecutor in my day job, and I think we allocate far too many resources to cannabis at the expense of more serious crime,” he said. “Minnesotans want this change. They’re ready for it.”
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