The Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill to legalize marijuana on Tuesday after weeks of extensive committee consideration and a floor debate that spanned two days. Meanwhile, Senate companion legislation will be taken up in its final committee on Wednesday before potentially advancing to the floor, which is expected by the end of the week.
The House legislation from Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) was approved by the full chamber, with amendments, in a 71-59 vote. Throughout the session, it has moved through 15 committees before reaching the floor.
“Members, our cannabis laws are broken. Prohibition has failed,” Stephenson said on the floor on Tuesday. “It’s not achieving any of its goals, and its costs in terms of dollars and inhuman costs are overwhelming.”
“If you support prohibition because you want to limit cannabis use, you must reckon with the reality that we have 50 years of evidence that the criminal justice system cannot achieve this goal,” he said. “I say that as a prosecutor. The criminal justice system cannot achieve that goal. If it could, don’t you think it would have done it by now?”
The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, will vote on the companion version from Sen. Lindsey Port
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