 Rep. Zack Stephenson and Sen. D. Scott Dibble listen to public testimony during the May 16 Cannabis Policy Conference Committee. (Photo by Andrew VonBank)
Tweaks are needed to the existing cannabis laws as Minnesota gears up for the launch of the cannabis licenses.
To that end, the Office of Cannabis Management has requested a number of law changes this session. Those requests made it into a conference committee report adopted by a conference committee Friday.
Rep. Zack Stephenson (DFL-Coon Rapids) and Sen. D. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) sponsor the cannabis policy bill, HF1615/SF2370*.
Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine) is glad the agreement directly addresses current issues happening with cannabis in the state, but there are still problems that need to be worked on. He’s concerned that a lot of startup cannabis businesses are going to fail despite legislators’ best intentions because of the state’s cannabis business model.
“My frustration with the current direction… is that it’s so overly regulated to create what I would argue is a ‘fantasy situation’ where we’re going to be an exclusively craft industry,” West said.
[MORE: Houses passes cannabis policy bill]
Eric Taubel, interim director of the Office of Cannabis Management, said the agreement would help the office with the cannabis licensing rollout, social equity applicants, medical cannabis and protections for medical cannabis patients.
“OCM continues to make significant milestones in the implementation of the cannabis market and this legislation will support our shared goal of launching a safe well-regulated market,” he said. Read more
WATCH ▶️ Friday's meeting of the Conference Committee on SF2370 (video courtesy of Senate Media Services)
MORE FROM SESSION DAILY
Session Daily is an online news service updated every day during session and when news from the House warrants.
   
|